Fallen Heroes
by Aline Riva
Summary: The Doctor has regenerated - this time into a woman. But a battle with the Cybermen has left both men she loved dead on worlds a thousand years apart. Then she runs into her 11th incarnation and tells him of her painful choice between saving the Earth or a Mars colony, a choice which cost her the lives of both men she loved. He agrees to help - his decision will alter everything...
1. Chapter 1

**Fallen Heroes**

**Author Note:**

**I'm a fan fiction writer who mainly writes novels. A large majority of my books are within the Home Alone and Inspector Gadget fandoms. I've always wanted to write a Dr Who fic - and this is it. This is also my first time writing in the Dr Who fandom. **

**This is a future based fic (as are all my fan fic novels because that is how I write) and this story is no exception – it features an incarnation of the Doctor many years into the future and yes, in this incarnation, the Doctor is a woman. **

**Don't like, don't read.**

**Otherwise, enjoy! Reviews welcome. ~ Aline Riva ~**

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**Summary:**

**Many years into the future the Doctor has regenerated into yet another identity – this time as a woman. **

**After a battle with the Cybermen that left both the men she loved dead on two worlds a thousand years apart, the Doctor has never felt so alone – until, whilst returning her companion Ralph to his own time on Earth in 2013, she runs into her eleventh incarnation, who is stunned to find out that she is him, many regenerations into the future.**

**When she tells him of her heartbreak and the agonising decision to choose between saving Earth or a human Mars colony from an invasion by the Cybermen, a choice that cost her the lives of the two men she loved, he agrees to help her – and his actions will have consequences that reach back through time, altering everything...**

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**Disclaimer: I own nothing, this is a work of fan fiction.**

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**Rated T.**

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**Chapter 1  
**

_London, 2013:_

The wide window looked out onto a view of a slate grey sky with no sign of sun breaking through.

The Doctor stood and looked out through the glass, seeing London in the post millennium age yet recalling old London, a place that had worn many guises over the years:

The plague ridden streets of filth, the fire that destroyed it, and the new buildings that replaced the old that now stood as aged monuments to a city's past. In the blink of an eye it seemed carriages could have travelled along those roads in the days of Victorian London, there were reminders of it everywhere yet now in 2013 that age too was gone.

_Time was a funny thing, a life time to humans, but gone by too fast, like dog years– at least, it seemed that way to a Time Lord._

The Doctor's heart was aching for every love known by the twin hearts that beat within; love, much like the changing face of London Town, had come in many guises and every single one of them had been underlined by loss in one way or another.

_Humans lived such short lives. Short but beautiful and no matter how many times that notion had forced the Doctor to turn away with a broken heart, yet always there was a reason to turn back, to be the defender of this vulnerable planet no matter the cost. _

_But this time, the cost had been too great. _

The Doctor's gaze shifted from the skyline to the murky waters of the Thames; today the river seemed darker, perhaps for the secret that had lurked beneath the surface only a short time ago, or perhaps it was just the reflection of the grey sky above or the reflection of sorrow weighing heavily within twin hearts that were breaking...

Memories flashed to mind one after the other as the sky grew darker and clouds became heavy with rain:

_Leo Isaac's dark eyes flashed with anger as he brandished a gun in his hand._

_But then his jaw had dropped as the gun slid from his grip as the first cyberman smashed his way through the wall._

"_What the hell are they?" he had whispered._

"_Cybermen,_" _the Doctor had replied,_ _"and you can't stop them!"_

They never would have met, the Doctor knew it – if Ralph, a rather timid and too - curious human hadn't stumbled across a vessel on barge and decided to investigate. Unfortunately for him it was owned by space pirates who owned a time shift device, who were scavenging about for post millennium artefacts, but instead had found Ralph and abducted him with the intention of selling him at an intergalactic slave market on the rougher side of the galaxy.

The Doctor had found him and freed him and promised him a free trip back to Earth, back to his own time - after first stopping off at the future thriving Mars colony that was such a peaceful place to be – and a thousand years into the future.

That stay on Mars had been extended because the Doctor had struck up an unexpected friendship with Professor Jaden Floyd, who was in charge of running the security systems. _When it had been time to say goodbye, the Doctor's heart had ached along with a strange feeling that seemed to suggest the universe had more to say about this man..._

But on returning to Earth in 2013, the Doctor had learned of the Cyber fleet's planned attack... and on putting the name _Professor Jaden Floyd_ into the data base, had learned this man would die a hero's death defending the Mars colony from a cyber fleet attack that was timed in the future to happen the same time as the attack on Earth back in 2013.

The attack had been prevented, at least here on Earth, thanks to landing the Tardis deep below the river Thames where the signal was based - the Doctor had managed to recalibrate the signal's pulse and fried the transmitter deep within the brain of every cyberman who could hear it.

_But it hadn't stopped the attack on the Mars base so far in the future._

Professor Jaden Floyd had prevented that, powering up the weakened shields and destroying the vessel on impact – and the machine he had over powered blew up as he worked on it to hold the signal together.

His death could have been prevented, had the Doctor not been so intent on destroying the earth-bound fleet before thinking of using the Tardis to send a warning to Mars...

With the signal destroyed, they had materialised the Police Box looking out over the Thames, where its aged appearance fitted in well with old architecture. On stepping out of the Tardis, Leo had turned to the Doctor and smiled and said:

"I knew you could do it. Now it's time to do things _my_ way – let's go home and talk about the future."

The Doctor had looked at him doubtfully.

"The future? My home is the Tardis."

Leo had smiled as his dark eyes sparkled playfully.

"You could always park it up in my place - there's plenty of room!"

And then the half metallic wail from deep inside the wounded cyberman sounded like a death rattle as the silver robot flung open the door of the Tardis and stepped out on to the London street. Passers by screamed and fled and the cyberman half leaned, fluid leaking from a wound in its side as it raised its weapon.

Leo ripped his loaded hand gun from beneath his long dark jacket and took a firm two-handed aim at the creature.

"_No more of this!" _he yelled, _"it's over!"_

Ralph had rushed to the open door, his pale eyes growing wide with fear as he saw the scene unfolding, and in a moment of unusual courage had grabbed the cyberman from behind as he tried to wrestle the weapon from its grip. The wounded cyberman had struggled, Leo had fired and the bullet had bounced off its metallic body. As the Doctor lunged forward to grab at the cyberman's weapon, the creature had fired, hitting Leo in the chest.

As Ralph wrestled the robot to the ground, the Doctor had grabbed its weapon, looking into its lifeless, soulless face and feeling nothing but rage and hatred as the weapon was aimed firm at the chest of the cyberman and the trigger was pulled.

The robot's body had jerked and a last wail had fizzled into nothingness as fluid bubbled from the wound and then the cyberman lay dead on the street.

_Then it seemed as if the world had turned to silence._

The Doctor knelt down and cradled Leo, who was barely breathing.

Ralph fell to his knees and took in a frightened breath as the wind blew his fair hair and his face turned pale with shock.

"How did that thing get in the Tardis?" he asked.

"Must have been when I was tampering with the signal," the Doctor replied, looking down at the man whose life was slipping away.

"I'm sorry, Leo," the Doctor whispered, "I should have known...you _never_ listen to me!"

And Leo had dragged his eyes open, looked up and fought to breathe.

"_Don't let me go..."_ he murmured, then his eyes closed once more and he coughed as blood trickled from the side of his mouth.

"It was my fault!" Ralph said tearfully, "I shouldn't have hid away, I should have stayed at the console just like you said when we went under the river...I'm sorry, if I'd been there –"

The Doctor shot him a steely gaze.

"_You would have been killed too."_

"But I wanted to _stop_ this!"

"And you did!" the Doctor said sharply, still clinging to the dying man, "You just don't get it do you, Ralph?"

And Ralph's light grey eyes met with the Doctor's own gaze of emerald green and he saw nothing within but cold resignation to a hard truth learned through centuries and many lifetimes within:

"This is the reality of how wars are won," the Doctor said bitterly, "through blood spilt and lives lost – all the heroes are _dead_, Ralph. _They're all gone..._"

And then nothing more was said as the wail of sirens split the air and the Doctor held on to Leo, knowing nothing in this time and place could be done to save the life of a man who had been hit in the chest with a blast from an alien weapon that had shattered bone and caused irreparable internal injuries...

* * *

Now the Doctor stood in the corridor looking out of the wide window at the view of the river, the buildings beyond; the city was sleeping now, moving into night and lights were shining and traffic was flowing and life seemed to be moving along with ease, as if it was just another night.

It was strange how this world could carry on as if nothing had happened when something so terrible had just occurred that made those affected by it feel as if the end of the world had come along. Right now the Doctor was the only one who felt like the world was ending; it was ending on a personal scale that all around seemed oblivious to because a man named Leo Isaac was dying...

"_Doctor?"_

Hearing Ralph's voice brought some comfort. He had stayed around because he wanted to be here, he wanted to help and the Doctor appreciated that act of kindness at this time, but still didn't answer him.

Then his footsteps came closer.

"I'd do more if I could. I know all I can do is be here but I'm trying to help. I know this must be breaking your heart – _both _your hearts! I just wish I could help. Did you hear me, Doctor?"

And the Doctor finally turned from the window, green eyes glassy with tears.

"_I heard you."_

Ralph stood there for a moment and looked at the Doctor – she was shorter than him, and wearing such a smart black suit and pressed white blouse it would have been easy for anyone to pass her in the street and think she was just another London office worker, her hair was down to her shoulders and fire-red, she looked to be in her late thirties but she was pretty with it, and it was only when he looked into her bright green eyes and saw something so deep and old and wise that he remembered she was a Time Lord – she still said _Lord_ not _Lady,_ perhaps because she had explained when they had first met that she had never been a woman before, although she had regenerated many times before she had always been male, so this new incarnation had come as something of a shock at first.

_Ralph thought she was pretty. _

She was slender and athletic and dark mascara framed her green eyes and her lip gloss shone dark red when it caught the light. He had tried so many times to tell her that he cared, he _really_ cared - and each time had failed miserably, because words, thinking and general quick-wittedness would never be any of his strong points, and he also knew that now was _not_ a time to make another clumsy attempt, because Leo was dying, _her _Leo...

"I was just talking to the doctors; they said you can see him now. Do you want me to come with you?"

The Doctor looked up at her tall, nervous companion and shook her head.

"No, wait here."

Then she walked up the corridor alone and Ralph stayed by the window, watching as the Doctor headed off towards the room where Leo Isaac lay dying.

* * *

As she walked, her twin hearts felt heavy.

She thought of Leo, a man whose life had been shrouded in dark dealings and crime and then she thought of the remark he had made as they had left the riverbed:

"_So what if a Mars colony got blown up a thousand years from now? We're still here, you stopped the invasion – it's over!"_

Leo had never been a sensitive man. He had never thought beyond his own reality. That was him - selfish, thoughtless Leo Isaac.

_Yet she had loved him._

As she approached his room her mind was swirling much like the universe that she was so close to - time was a strange thing, her only constant companion, but still it refused to give up the answers she sought:

_Why him?_

Why did she have to be pushed together with Leo, a man who was in most senses of the world, a criminal?

The Tardis computer had laid it all out for her when she had first looked him up to find out who this man was:

Leo Isaac was a nightclub owner with convictions for armed bank robbery in his youth. He was suspected of gun smuggling and possible involvement in large scale fraud. And according to records as they had first stood, was due to be murdered by a gangland rival who would have had him shot and buried in a shallow grave before the end of the month...but that had changed now, he was to die much sooner thanks to that blast from the weapon of a dying cyberman...

The Doctor blinked away tears. This was not the first time she had been forced to watch someone she loved die, but it never got any easier, no matter how many lifetimes passed by...

_Nothing made sense._

She recalled clearly the first day she had met Leo, he had grabbed her and with dark eyes blazing asked her a question she still did not understand:

"_Where is my son?"_

And then as she wondered about that question her skin prickled as if a breeze had just shifted down the corridor, as if the universe was trying to convey something.

She wondered about it and then paused at his door to push up the sleeve of her jacket and scratch at the mottled rash that was spreading up her arm. Then she shook her head, wanting to think no more because her twin hearts were breaking and the man who lie in the bed beyond this door was dying and she knew when he was gone a part of her soul would be gone forever too.

Then she walked into his room and as she approached his bedside the Doctor felt as if her hearts were breaking all over again:

Leo was barely clinging to life.

As she sat beside him and watched as the machines and the wires and the tubes kept him alive, she felt sure he had only survived the initial blast from the weapon because he was a tall, heavily built man. Someone who had a smaller frame, someone like Ralph, would have died instantly. Or perhaps he was just holding on because he was determined to live as long as he could, she didn't know but as she looked into his eyes she managed to smile.

"You're still here," she reminded him, "you're strong, Leo. You have to hold on."

And she ran her hand over his dark hair and then leaned closer, looking into his eyes.

"I won't leave you."

As he felt her take hold of his hand, Leo weakly smiled back at her and that smile seemed to radiate from his dark eyes; he knew he was dying yet he seemed to be so happy and the Doctor wondered why, because after taking a blast from that weapon he ought to be in terrible pain, yet for the first time since she had known him, Leo seemed almost at peace...

His arm shook as he summoned the last of his strength to squeeze her hand.

"I know," he whispered, "I get it now, don't you?"

The Doctor shook her head.

"I don't understand, get _what,_ Leo?"

He briefly closed his eyes as he took in a slow breath, then he focussed on the Doctor once more.

"You and me," he said weakly, "think about it, Doctor...about _us_... it makes sense now. You came back with my son."

And as his face drained of the last flush of life, he drew in another breath as love shone in his dark eyes and he gripped her hand tighter.

"_Our son."_

Then he spoke no more as he breathed out and let go of her hand.

His eyes were focussed on nothing and as the monitors flat lined she looked down at him, hardy believing this man who had fought his way so aggressively through a violent life had slipped away so easily at the end of it.

The Doctor was still holding his hand.

She knew the medical staff had come in and were disconnecting him from the machines but she stood there, feeling the remainder of warmth still in his hand as she clutched at it as if wishing she could hold life inside his shattered body in the same way. She thought of a man she knew one thousand years into the future, Professor Jaden Floyd, the man who had stolen her twin hearts, the man she had loved as much as Leo. Both men were gone now, because of the Cybermen's planned attack.

_The Earth was safe but both the men she had held close to her hearts were gone._

_This was the price, paid yet again for defending the Earth – she was left alone..._

She knew tears were sliding down her face and as a nurse asked if she wanted more time with him she nodded, then felt thankful as the last of the staff left her alone with Leo's body. They had closed his eyes after death and even knowing that seemed to drive the pain deeper at his loss, reminding her she would never look into his dark eyes again.

Then as she looked down at him she thought again of Jaden and sky blue eyes and the gentle touch of his hand on her face; they had been two men so different in every way, yet she had loved them both and lost them and felt nothing but emptiness and a nagging guilt that weighed down as she wondered why it had to be this way:

_Why Leo, why Jaden? _

Both men had been heroes in their own way, Jaden had died powering up the planet's shields to destroy the Cyberfleet vessel. Leo had died foolishly trying to take on a cyberman with a hand gun simply because he had chosen to ignore her warning, even though he knew a simple bullet could not stop one of those machines...

_He had been trying to protect her._

She didn't need protecting but he had chosen to do it anyway and that act had cost him his life...

* * *

Much later the Doctor leaned over Leo's body and kissed his cheek.

"I do love you," she whispered, then she stood up, turned away from his bed and every step towards the door felt as if he was being ripped from her life, but he was gone and she knew it and she spared herself the pain of a last look back as she left the room and closed the door behind her.

As she walked away, Ralph hurried after her.

"How is he?"

He had sounded so hopeful.

The Doctor stopped walking and looked into his eyes.

"_He's gone."_

Ralph reached out and put his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm so sorry. Listen Doctor, we shouldn't stay around here – let's go and –"

"I just need some..." as she paused, the irony of her own word hit her and she shook her head, "I need some _time_, time alone. Go home, Ralph. That's why we came to 2013 - to bring you home, so go. I'm not much company right now."

And as he took his hand off her shoulder and she caught a flicker of sorrow in his eyes, the Doctor managed a smile.

"I know where you live. I'll come and look you up some day. But right now I need to be alone, to think about everything and I really need to get back in the Tardis and go, alone."

Ralph stared at her.

"Go where?"

The Doctor shrugged.

"Mars, perhaps."

She fell silent as she blinked back tears.

"Because of Jaden?" Ralph asked her.

The Doctor nodded.

"He gave his life to save the colony. He died because I saved this planet, because I had no time to send a warning, I made a choice and now two men are _dead,_ Ralph. I think my need to be alone is justified!"

The Doctor headed towards the entrance and Ralph walked alongside her.

As they reached the outside she paused to close her eyes and take in fresh air.

"I don't think you should be alone right now. I don't think it's a good idea."

The Doctor gave a sigh and turned back to her companion.

"Space travel scares you. When we first went to Mars to meet the earth colonists you stayed in the Tardis for three weeks because you said you were scared of the Martians! This life isn't suited to you. Besides, I've already lost too may people I care about. I'm not adding you to the list. Go home."

The Doctor turned away and began to walk off into the night.

"You _care_ about me?"

As Ralph's voice cut through the night air she gave another sigh and looked back at him.

"If you had an ounce of common sense you'd understand I'm keeping you safe by leaving you behind. Now I really _do_ need to be alone."

Ralph reached into his pocket and drew out the Tardis key.

"Do I have to give this back?"

He sounded like a disappointed child.

The Doctor's mood softened as she saw the look in his eyes and she shook her head.

"Maybe you should stay around for a while longer – but _only_ until I leave!"

He was smiling already and if she hadn't been so weighed down with grief she knew that smile would have been infectious.

"Go back to the Tardis," she told him, "I'll be along later."

Ralph was still smiling.

"Thanks," he said warmly, but the Doctor just turned away and began to walk towards the open gates of the hospital grounds, not looking back as she wished she could leave heartache and memories behind as easily as she could walk away from this place without a backwards glance.

* * *

A short while later the Doctor walked alone by the river, any tears she had shed had been done alone here as the water flowed by and she thought about how the sun would rise tomorrow on another new day, the Earth had survived but the two men she loved had not.

Then as she walked she saw the familiar sight of the Tardis and smiled, as she felt sure inviting Ralph to stay a while longer had been the right decision.

She walked on, closer to the Tardis.

And then she stopped walking and looked back as her eyes clouded with confusion.

She looked over her shoulder, feeling sure she had left the Tardis up the _other_ end of the riverside...

And as she realised her mistake, the Doctor stood there, staring at the police box a short distance away:

This was _not _her Tardis – she could feel it, as if looking at an old photograph and recalling something else...

Then she heard a woman's laughter and it danced on the breeze as she recalled a woman twice dead who she had found again, back in the day when she had been in her... she searched for the distant memory and found it... _Yes, that was it!_ She had been in her eleventh incarnation – so long ago...Clara, that was her companion's name back then, when _she_ had been a _he_ and...

The doctor stared at the couple walking towards her. A dark haired young woman linked arms with a tall young man who wore a brown suit and a bow tie. He was laughing and telling her they could go anywhere in the world, anywhere in the universe...

_And then he stopped walking too._

The young man stared at the flame haired woman who stood before him with tears running down her face. Her bright green eyes seemed to tell of a life lived over many times, of loss and heart break and the loneliness of the last Time Lord and he felt as if he could have been looking into mirror, yet seeing a new reflection.

He let go of Clara's hand.

His companion stopped walking and her gaze shifted from him to the woman who stood before them and then back to the Doctor once more.

"What's going on?" she wondered aloud.

The eleventh Doctor stepped closer to the tearful woman, still staring at her as he picked up on the indescribable and very unique vibe that she was linked to him in a future sense, more than that, he knew two hearts beat within her chest and he knew without a shadow of doubt in his mind they had fought the same battles, lived the same lives...

He shook his head.

"I don't understand..."

He continued to stare at her.

"Who _are _you?" he asked.

The Doctor took in a shaky breath and pushed her red hair off her face as her tears glistened in the moonlight and the river beyond flowed like a swathe of black ink.

"I'm you," she replied tearfully, "that's who I am, Doctor – but many, many years from now."

More tears spilled down her face and her voice faltered.

"_I'm you!"_ she said again, looking at herself in another lifetime in another body as she gave a sob of despair and broke down and wept.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Clara stood and watched as the Doctor put his arm around the sobbing woman.

He glanced back at his companion.

"Let's get her into the Tardis."

Clara followed, looking at the man she knew as the Doctor and then at the woman who was weeping. She wondered how she could be him, in another time line - yet here they were, meeting together. _It was mind blowing._

Then she followed them inside and closed the Tardis door behind her.

As she stood there in the middle of the vast room, the Doctor looked around at the wide space and the huge console at its heart and smiled.

"I remember this," she told her former incarnation, "but vaguely. This was a _very_ long time ago."

And then she reached down and tugged at her sleeve and scratched at the rash that was creeping up her arm.

He noticed but said nothing about it as he looked towards the corridor that led off into the vast ship and the many rooms within it.

"Shall we go somewhere more comfortable?"

The Doctor nodded, following him as he led the way down a long narrow corridor.

"I vaguely recall this design," she told him, "but not perfectly. Maybe I'm getting old or perhaps its just that this Tardis – when I was you – was so long ago."

And he glanced at her and smiled.

Her tears had stopped now; she was quiet but definitely immersed in old memories.

As they walked Clara spoke up.

"So you used to be him?" she asked, glancing at the man she knew as the Doctor.

She nodded.

"It was many lifetimes ago. But this is a first for me; I've never been female before."

Clara smiled.

"Do you remember me?"

The Doctor looked into her eyes, feeling an odd sensation swirling within twin hearts that had lived many lives and known many loves and now it all seemed so different because the hearts she had come to understand in this female body _definitely_ preferred males - especially of the human species, but all the same, feelings remained for this woman and that was undeniable...

"It was..." she paused, then said, "...a long time ago but yes, I recall you."

And then she averted her gaze, turning into a room as the Doctor opened the door and gestured her to follow him inside.

The doorway led into a small, softly lit room where a window showed the view beyond the Tardis of the flowing river and a night sky punctured by stars.

He sat down on a soft couch.

"Sit down, talk to me about your situation – I'm assuming there _is_ a situation and not a pleasant one, or you wouldn't be so distraught."

The Doctor sat down beside him. She ran her fingers through her flame red hair and then glanced at him.

"I don't think you need to hear about this..."

He leaned back on the comfortable seat and fixed her with an interested gaze.

"You're _me_, why would I not want to help myself out in a time of crisis? Talk to me, Doctor. Tell me what's happened."

She paused again, feeling a reminder of the pain that was still fresh inside, the heartache and the grieving...she shook her head.

"This isn't easy. There was a planned attack on Earth and Mars by the Cybermen – two fleets, in two locations a thousand years apart. I managed to stop the Earth invasion but I didn't have time to send warning to Mars. We came under fire from Cybermen left to guard the signal device and I saw the coordinates set to the double strike but all I could do was stop the Earth attack. There was no time."

The eleventh Doctor saw the sorrow in his future incarnation's eyes and he spoke gently, recalling his own battles and how fairness often didn't come into play in times of war.

"You did all you could."

She looked into his eyes and became tearful again.

"They're both dead, Leo's gone and so is Jaden. Both killed because of the Cybermen."

As he looked into her tearful green eyes, the eleventh Doctor felt her pain, even though she was an incarnation many years from the future, even though her female form had set her part from all his other personas in every single way; she was still him, and he could feel her pain, deep and terrible like a grief that would never cease to cut deep, it was a wound that seemed impossible to heal.

He made an offer and hoped it would lift her spirits a little.

"Would you like some tea?"

She shook her head.

"I'll take a black coffee if you have any." And then she did it again, she pushed up her sleeve and scratched at her arm briefly.

He watched her thoughtfully, being sure not to stare at the rash that caused her such irritation.

"I'll make the coffee." Clara offered, but the Doctor got up.

"No," he said, casting her a glance that said he had noticed something that she had not, "I'll do it. Perhaps you and my future self could get better acquainted."

Then he shot Clara a brief but knowing smile that did nothing to clarify what he had spotted that she had missed, and he left the room.

* * *

As the door closed Clara sat down next to the woman who was the future incarnation of the man she knew and loved dearly and called the Doctor... as she looked at her she still found it hard to believe that he would, after so many regenerations as a male, have regenerated into a female body...but here she was and no matter how hard she studied her face she saw no likeness to her Doctor in the face of the small red haired woman with green eyes who sat beside her.

"So..." Clara began, "you're the Doctor – you're him in another regeneration?"

The Doctor nodded.

"I'm him many lifetimes from now," she explained, "my memory of my eleventh life is rather distant, I've had many lives- more than I expected to have, but I didn't expect to regenerate into a woman, all my previous lives have been male. The personalities have all been different but every time I've been a man and even though I regenerated four years ago, I still find it's not quite sunk in, Clara. I still feel strange about the whole thing. I suppose because it's a change from the habit of many lifetimes – I've never been female before, it's a new experience."

Clara smiled.

"It's not so bad, is it?"

The Doctor looked at her wearily.

"It was bearable until I made a complete mess of my life!"

And she shook her head again.

"I'm sure it's my age, as I get older, as I regenerate over again I'm sure my personalities are becoming flawed, weakened...that has to be the answer!"

"Why?" Clara asked her.

The Doctor replied at once.

"Because if I had an ounce of my old common sense I wouldn't have got into a mess with _two_ men!"

Clara's eyes widened.

"Two men? The ones who died because of the Cybermen?"

Tears filled her green eyes again.

"I only came back here to bring a friend back home. Then I met _him_ - Leo Isaac. I'd already met Jaden on Mars; he ran the program to keep the planet's shields working to protect the colonists."

As she spoke of Professor Floyd, her pain seemed to ease as light came back to her eyes as she recalled the man she had loved so deeply:

"Jaden was such a wonderful person - I saw everything in him that reminds me why I love Earth so much. He was a human with a lot of humanity in him, can you understand that?"

The Doctor's voice had softened and even though her choice was still edged with raw grief, she had managed the ghost of a smile.

Clara nodded.

"Of course I can Doctor. You - well_, my_ Doctor – _him,_ he's told me all about why he loves the people of this planet so much. Jaden must have been very special."

_"One in a billion,"_ she said sadly, _"I'll never find another like him."_

Clara studied her face and the troubled look in her eyes. Then the Doctor started to scratch her arm again but stopped quickly, pulling her sleeve down to cover it.

Clara spoke carefully, not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable about something she was clearly trying to hide.

"That rash on your arm...what is it?"

The Doctor looked up sharply and for a moment Clara wondered if she shouldn't have asked, but then the Doctor slowly pulled up her sleeve and turned her arm over, exposing the mottled flesh.

"It's nothing, just a chemical reaction to..."

"Chemicals?" Clara offered, hoping that remark would prompt a detailed explanation.

The Doctor smiled and pushed her sleeve back down.

"Chemicals, yes...or something like that...nothing to worry about."

And then she fell silent.

Clara paused, and then rose from her seat.

"I'll just see what's keeping the Doctor so long. Just stay here; I won't be long..."

And then she left the room and hurried up the corridor, searching for her Doctor, the man who she hoped would have some answers that could shed light on what was happening, because as things stood she felt utterly confused...

* * *

While she sat alone, the Doctor looked out of the window at the night sky and the stars that punctured it and as they glowed she thought about Mars, about the day she had decided on a detour before taking Ralph back to Earth.

_That day had changed everything._

She still wondered, had she not gone to Mars, if she had never met Jaden, would her heart still be breaking over his death so far away in the future, would she still be mourning the loss of the life of that courageous man who had sacrificed everything for the lives of the colonists?

She hoped the answer would be _yes _because she knew if she ever stopped caring about loss of life she would certainly have lost a part of herself that she could not live without – every single living thing in the universe deserved to know and feel compassion and if she ever woke up one day and found that compassion within her was gone, she would know for certain she had no hope left...

Her gaze shifted deep into the night sky to the place where she had travelled in the Tardis, as it spun easily through space she had promised Ralph he would be back on Earth soon, but first she wanted to visit the Mars colony, because it was a place she had always wanted to go to but had ever found the time, and now seemed like the right time...

She blinked and carried on looking at the star-scattered darkness. Perhaps she had known it was the right time because the universe was telling her so; it was pushing her towards Jaden Floyd...

She was back there in her mind, remembering it all over again, the day they first met:

_The Tardis had been spinning and Ralph was standing nervously at the console asking why he didn't feel dizzy._

_Then the Doctor had laughed and told him not to worry, he would not feel the box turning as they travelled through space and time..._

Ralph still looked wary as he stood beside the console and looked at the many controls.

"You're sure you know how to fly this thing?"

The Doctor smiled and shook her head.

"I've had centuries of practise, Ralph. Don't forget, I'm _much_ older than I look and I've lived many lifetimes."

Ralph smiled despite that feeling of unease he got when ever she reminded him of the fact that she was actually a thousand years older than she looked and all her other life times had been lived as men. He still found all of that strange, because knowing all that reminded him the female doctor with sparkling green eyes and a smile that made his heart miss a beat was, in fact, an alien...

He walked over to the window and looked out at the stars and the blackness of space.

"I don't think I _want_ to meet the Martians."

As he turned back towards the console, the Doctor laughed again.

"Martians? _They're human colonists, Ralph!_ Now you're telling me you're scared of your own people?"

He ran his fingers through his fair hair and looked back at the view of the stars.

_"No, I just don't want to meet the Martians."_

The Doctor gave a weary sigh knowing it would be pointless to explain yet again that the Martian settlers were human colonists from Earth... She looked around the brightly lit room and then turned towards the window that showed the view of the approaching Martian landscape.

Ralph turned back from the window in surprise.

"There's no red sand! It looks like Earth!"

"That's because a thousand years from your time, Ralph – it _is_ just like Earth. Its been transformed. You'll like it here; you should come outside and take a look around."

He shook his head.

"I don't like the idea of Martians." He said again, and the Tardis landed and the Doctor headed for the door. She turned back to see Ralph standing by the console looking at her nervously.

"I'll be fine, I'll stay here."

She raised an eyebrow on hearing that remark.

"By yourself? The Tardis is a big place - I don't want you to –"

"I _won't_ get lost again!"

The Doctor still found that memory amusing - first time in the Tardis, Ralph had wandered off and she had been forced to follow his frightened cries for help along many winding corridors to find him again...

"You'd better_ not_ get lost."

"I won't," he promised.

"If you change your mind you can always come out and look for me."

Ralph shook his head.

"No thank you. I'll stay here. I _like_ the Tardis..."

And he patted the console fondly.

The Doctor opened the door and stepped outside, guessing the sooner she got him back to Earth the better, because Ralph was _definitely _not suited to time or space travel...

* * *

When she closed the door behind her and stepped away from the Police Box she looked around and realised her mistake:

She had not landed on the surface, outside in the forest where she had intended to be. Instead, as often happened with an old girl like the Tardis, she had parked up slightly off target. This looked more like a maintenance level, and she was right in the middle of it...

Workers in white uniforms were busy working on pipes and shifting equipment while others checked wiring.

"And I want all of this section cleared and passed for safety at level ten by the end of the day!" A man said, "I mean _all_ of it – we still have four miles of engineering to work through and I don't want this to take a month, it should be done in less than two weeks!"

The woman he was talking to nodded and took some paperwork and walked away up the corridor.

Then the man who had been giving the instructions stopped walking and stared at the Doctor, his gaze briefly shifted to the blue box that was standing in the middle of the wide walkway.

"You can't leave that thing down here."

She looked back at him, her green eyes locked with his sky blue gaze and for a moment the Doctor was speechless.

"You need to move that box of yours," he told her indicating to the Tardis, "this is a busy walkway; we're beneath the main shield defence control centre and this area is currently undergoing routine maintenance. I'm sorry but you'll have to move your box."

Then he stopped talking as the woman with the bright green eyes smiled.

"It's my space vessel, it's called a Tardis. I'm sorry if I've landed awkwardly – I can always move it elsewhere."

He looked at her in surprise.

"That little box is your ship?"

The Doctor had heard it over and over again; the true dimensions of the Tardis always came as something of a surprise...

"It's bigger on the inside," she promised him.

He looked at her doubtfully.

"I don't see how that could be possible."

She laughed softly.

"I could show you..."

He stepped closer.

"Show me, then."

As the Doctor took out the Tardis key from a long chain attached to the inside of her jacket, she held up the key and smiled at the man who stood beside her. He was a little taller than her with short dark hair and eyes as blue as a Martian sky on a cloudless day and his smile was warm as his eyes sparkled with amusement.

"I think you know who I am and you're playing a trick on me," he told her, glancing left and right to see if any of the workers were looking on in amusement, "did someone put you up to this to make me look like an idiot?"

She shook her head as the silver Tardis key glinted beneath artificial lighting.

Then she smiled and so did he.

"I don't believe this thing is bigger on the inside," he told her, "that's not possible."

The Doctor slid the key into the lock and turned it.

"I wouldn't exaggerate about how big my ship is, after all, size isn't everything..."

And she pushed open the door.

He took a step inside and then stopped, staring at the wide room and the glowing console. He looked up, he looked around the room and saw a corridor that led off deep into the ship. His jaw dropped as he looked back at her.

"That's not...its not..."

He pointed at the wide room with the high ceiling.

"How...I mean, _what _kind of design do you call this? How is it done?"

She laughed.

"It's a Tardis."

He ran his hand over dark, spiked hair and looked back at her.

"_A what?"_

"Tardis stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. It's bigger-"

"On the inside, yes, I believe you now!"

He blinked and looked at her intently.

"Who are you?"

"The Doctor."

"Doctor _who_?"

The red haired woman was looking around the console room.

"That's an old one..." she murmured, then said, "Where's Ralph? He was here a moment ago. He's probably gone back to his room. He didn't want to leave the ship. I'll be glad when I've taken him back to Earth; he's not comfortable with space travel..._or_ time travel..."

Interest sparked in his eyes at once.

"This is a time machine?"

"I just told you that."

"No, you said it was bigger on the inside."

The Doctor had caught the excited sparkle in his eyes and wondered how he would feel about the possibility of travelling in the Tardis.

He looked around the room again and then smiled.

"This is amazing."

She glanced back at the man who stood there in dark jeans and a white shirt intricately patterned with binary coding that spelled out the word _peace _in small, spiralled numbers.

"Thank you," she said, "I'd better move my ship..."

He was still looking at her.

"It's nice... a nice ship."

She smiled back at him.

"And that's a nice shirt, Mr...?"

He shook her hand.

"I'm Professor Jaden Floyd, I more or less run the whole security system for Mars - I maintain the shields."

As the Doctor let go of his hand she understood why he had assumed her remark about the Tardis had been a prank.

"And you thought some of your staff had put me up to playing a joke on you?"

He laughed.

"It's happened before!"

The Doctor stepped out of the Tardis and Jaden followed.

"I'd better move my ship off your walk way," she said.

Jaden paused outside the Tardis and then pointed upwards.

"You're welcome to move it to the upper level, that's where I live and work - and I promise I'll take care of it for you."

One look in his eyes told her she could trust him - she had met many people of all species in her travels and had learned much about the nature of life that was out there and this man, she knew for sure, could be trusted.

"Thank you," she told him, "I'll move it right away."

She turned to leave but he caught her hand.

"One more thing," he told her warmly, "welcome to Mars, Doctor."

Once again their eyes had met and his gaze had lingered, then she went back inside the Tardis and closed the door.

Moments later the light flashed and the box whooshed and groaned and faded in and out, and then it was gone.

Jaden stood staring at the space where the Tardis had been seconds before, then he glanced around at the workers who were busy with maintenance and decided to go up to the top floor and speak again with the amazing woman who owned the remarkable ship.

* * *

As the Tardis materialised on the upper floor, the Doctor stepped out and closed the door behind her. She glanced back at the Tardis, now neatly standing in the corner of a wide room with pale walls. This room was comfortably furnished with soft white sofas and through an archway she saw a kitchen and a door that led out to a rooftop garden where water flowed from a marble fountain. As she turned her head she noticed a doorway that led to a small corridor, one of the doors was open and she realised she could see right into Jaden's bedroom and smiled as she looked away.

The wall behind her was made of toughened glass and from where she stood she could see a control room filled with a large control panel where an array of flashing lights lit up in all colours.

Then Jaden had walked into the room, glanced at the Tardis and then looked into her eyes and smiled.

"Much better parking this time!" he remarked, and the Doctor had laughed.

_It had been the start of more than friendship._

_Jaden had showed her around, they had walked along the shore and through the forests and he had told her all about how Mars was so different to Earth – this planet was new, everything so unspoilt. When he had used the word virginal she had been sure he had caught the look in her eyes; she was a virgin in the sense that as a woman, in this body, she had never made love before._

_She had kept her distance from him, never allowing them to touch until the night before she was due to leave and then he had taken her in his arms and she had gone with him to his bed and made love with the man who protected the colony with complicated machinery that controlled the powerful shields that maintained the world's atmosphere._

_Jaden had been gentle and warm and whispered that he loved her. In the moment he said those words everything had made sense._

_But then she had left, promising to return soon, and ever true to the life she led as a wanderer through space, that promise had been broken by discovering the planned attack on Earth._

_The Cyberman Invasion had wrecked everything..._

As tears stung at her eyes she sat back on the soft couch and looked out the window of the other Doctor's Tardis as the dark waters of the River Thames flowed past. Her hearts were still aching for the loss of the man she had loved a thousand years and worlds away from Earth. If she closed her eyes she could be back there in her mind, back in Jaden's arms as he held her close and their bodies joined together and he made love to her so gently as his kisses made her twin hearts race.

_But he was gone now..._

She wanted to weep again but as she looked at the closed door she knew she couldn't crumble again, not when her eleventh incarnation could walk through the door at any moment; he would have many more regenerations to go through before he became her and she didn't want to give him despair to look forward to...

The Doctor sat and waited, taking in a deep breath as she recalled the night she lay in the dark with Jaden Floyd and he whispered to her that he would always keep her in his heart. She was sure he would always be in both her hearts now and forever, and the rest of it was too painful to think about because Leo was dead and the more she thought about Leo the more her hearts ached as she wished she could have changed events around, because she knew what had happened and it was nothing to do with how both men had died _- this was about her and it wasn't what she had planned for..._

* * *

The eleventh Doctor set the coffee down on a tray and placed it on the table in a wide, black and white kitchen that had a square window that at the moment showed the view of nothing but a brick wall, but had they been flying through space, the view would have been spectacular.

"What's going on?" Clara asked him.

The Doctor had looked down at the steaming coffee thoughtfully.

He turned back to Clara with a knowing look in his eyes.

"She is me many lifetimes from now. She's just lost two men she loves, I don't know why there was two of them, I've never been one to play the field but who knows the circumstances...anyway, there was a reason why I left you with her. Think about it, Clara – what did you notice?"

Clara frowned.

"Is this another test?"

"No, I need your input! Did you notice something unusual about her?"

Clara shrugged.

"She's upset, but then she would be, she's just lost two people she cares about."

Clara thought some more. Then she looked into the Doctors eyes and he saw that spark that told him she had it, she was on to it now and he wanted to kiss her but decided against it, not while his other self was so heartbroken, waving romance in her face like that just wouldn't have been fair at all...

"She's got this weird rash!" Clara exclaimed, "She keeps scratching, when I asked her about it she said it was chemicals or something...that's what she said, no more – like she didn't want to talk about it."

The Doctor snapped his fingers.

"I knew it!"

"Knew what?"

Clara was looking mystified now and he didn't blame her; there was much more to his female incarnation's rash than some kind of allergy...

"She - I mean, _I_, as her, would say that. I know me, you see Clara, I can put myself in her shoes and I know why she's holding back!"

His hands were on her shoulders and his eyes were shining as he mentally put the pieces together, and Clara knew all she could do now was listen, because like the Doctor said, he knew himself well enough to know what was going through his other incarnation's mind..

She looked up at him.

"So what is this about?"

The Doctor lowered his voice.

"She wasn't lying when she said it was down to chemicals. It's my –"

The Doctor stopped briefly, realising his own mistake as he let go of her shoulders, "No, not _me_- I mean _she's_ me, but not for many lifetimes yet - _her_ rash, it's a reaction to her body's own contact with alien DNA."

Clara's eyes widened.

"Alien? You mean human?"

He dropped his voice to a whisper as his voice took on a serious tone:

"No, I _don't_ mean human. Time Lord and human DNA are strangely compatible without these symptoms...I don't know how or why this has happened, but that rash is a symptom of fusion between two very different species. Both those men were human – Leo was from Earth and Jaden was a human Mars colonist."

Clara stared at him.

"Fusion between two species? You mean she's -"

"_Yes, she's pregnant,"_ the Doctor whispered, _"and I don't know how or why but if she thinks one of those lost loves of hers are the father, she's mistaken – the father of her child is not human!"_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

The Doctor had lost track of the time as she sat alone trying to resist the urge to scratch at the itch that was burning at her skin. Now and then she looked down at the rash and then covered it up, wising she could cover up the whole truth of the matter without ever having to face up to it.

_Regenerating into a woman had been enough of a shock._

But now she had something else to deal with and despite her great age and many life times, it was something she had never come across before. She put her head in her hands and gave a sob, wondering why, after all that had happened, when the thought of pregnancy was alarming in an unknown kind of way, did she have the single thought above all else that dominated everything:

_Why did this baby have to be Leo's? _

Why not Jaden, it should have been Jaden, because he was the one who her hearts ached for even though she had just watched Leo slip away, even though Leo was barely cold, she _still_ wept for Jaden Floyd...

She felt guilty and ungrateful and despised her own feelings when common decency suggested that she ought to be grieving for the man who had just died after trying to protect her – Leo had loved her, for all his failings, she could not dispute that fact...

Then as she raised her head and blinked away tears the door opened and the smell of hot coffee filled the air as Clara set the tray down on the table. She heard her ask if she was all right, and the Doctor just shook her head.

Then her former self was sitting beside her.

Clara left the room and as she looked at him, the Doctor felt less alone because this room, this place, this man beside her all linked to her in a way that said she would never truly be alone in the universe - because as long as time travel existed, there would always be another out there – another part of herself...

He smiled kindly.

"I've worked it out. You might as well tell me everything because I know as well as you do, that rash is a sign of pregnancy."

She stifled a sob and drew in a breath.

"I wanted it to be Jaden's child. Why did it have to be Leo's? You don't know what he was like; he's the _last_ person I would have wanted this to happen with!"

The Doctor looked intently at her.

"_He's not human."_

She blinked startled eyes.

"While it's true he was far from perfect I wouldn't be that harsh about him, the man just _died_!"

Her former self smiled briefly at the way she had misinterpreted his remark.

"No, that's not what I meant - I wasn't insulting him... you wouldn't have that rash if the father of your child was human. There must have been someone _else_, Doctor."

Her green eyes grew wider as she stared at him.

"Excuse me? I think I ought to know who my child's father is!"

The eleventh Doctor gave a sigh. This was never going to be an easy conversation, but he felt it best to be honest because he was, after all, talking to himself in a future life and he knew he deserved to give that future self nothing but total honesty.

"You're me but many regenerations ahead, you're a lot older and your personality has changed vastly - and I'm not criticising you but I do think you ought to have along hard think about what you may have been up to. I'm not judging you - I'm trying to help. I'm just pointing out there are a _lot _of species out there and to breed with a few of the less compatible kind could make you very unwell until that child's born. If you _want _to keep it - I don't know what you've been up to or who with, but you have to think about what you want to do."

She was glaring at him now. The anger that sparked in her eyes seemed to suggest she had a temper to match her fire-red hair.

"_I'm you!" _she exclaimed, "So you should know yourself, Doctor! Do you _seriously_ think I've irresponsibly slept with half the galaxy? I loved Jaden and in a funny kind of way I loved Leo too! There was _no one_ else!"

And her former male self sat back deep in thought for a moment.

"I wasn't insulting you."

She heard him but as she looked into his eyes the anger was still there.

"Two men," she stated, "that was all! I _know_ this child isn't Jaden's because contrary to what you may think about me, there was a time gap between him and Leo – I _didn't_ jump into bed with him on the day we met!"

As he listened to her, he frowned. He knew himself and felt sure he ought to know her just as well, even though she had lived more lifetimes, she was still his future self...

_She was very sure about what she was saying, too..._

He gave another sigh.

"Are you sure there was no one else?"

She glared at him harder.

"Fine," he said quickly, "I accept that – but you shouldn't get a rash like that from human DNA, it doesn't make sense."

"Does it really matter?" she asked him, "Maybe I'm just sensitive, perhaps its a reaction to it, why not – human DNA is still alien to us."

"But it _should_ be compatible."

He was still looking at her intently.

"Something's not making sense here."

She got up from the seat and he got up too, noticing she still looked distraught as he wished he could do more to help because after all, this woman was his future life and he didn't want to go through his next few incarnations knowing all this sorrow was on the way – the universe was full of too much of that already...

Then a sudden thought hit him.

"Maybe the future won't turn out the way you think at all - you've told me about it and I'm you, I'm _your_ past, so perhaps I'll get a chance to alter this situation and change your timeline and-"

She was shaking her head.

"No one could have stopped both attacks in two time lines at the _same time_, Doctor!"

Then she took in a breath and tried to steady herself as more tears flowed and she felt broken.

"_They are both gone, it's too late!"_

"And I'm truly sorry for that."

She looked into his eyes and saw such understanding there.

"So am I," she said quietly, "because there can be no going back, nothing can ever change what happened today."

As she turned to leave, he felt a flicker of alarm at the thought of his future self alone on this day of such great sadness.

"You could always stay here for a while, you're more than welcome."

She glanced back and shook her head.

"No, I'm going back to my Tardis – I've got a friend waiting there and he's probably missing me."

He blinked.

"Another one?"

Annoyance sparked in her eyes as she thought of Ralph and what her former self was suggesting.

"No, he's just a friend, _definitely_ just a friend!"

"Oh, I see..."

The eleventh Doctor fell silent once more, knowing in the mood she was in, his future self was far too sensitive and most likely to take offence at the slightest hint of anything that could be misinterpreted.

"I'm leaving in the morning," she told him, "I wanted to go back to Mars but the more I think about it the more I think there's no point, Jaden's gone."

"Stay and have the coffee, just stay a while longer. I don't like to think of you – or me - walking out there into the night feeling like this."

His words reached her and finally she managed to smile.

"I think I will stay a while longer," she replied, and sat down once more, paused to scratch at the rash on her arm and then reached for the coffee.

He waited for her to drink from the cup and set it down again and then asked a question, trying to word it carefully because he knew her emotions were still raw:

"How did you know Jaden was killed?"

"The Tardis computer," she replied, "as soon as we were back inside and the earth invasion was halted all I could think of was Jaden - and I checked the records and it said he was killed in the explosion as he powered up the shield to destroy the Cyberfleet."

And tears pricked at her eyes again but now her voice was stronger.

"It was there on record, he's a hero. He will _always_ be remembered as a hero."

And as he sat beside his future self, the doctor felt a mix of sympathy for her and pain for himself to know that his future would involve the experience of such loss. There were many degrees of love and it seemed his future persona was to experience it all at the deepest level; it was undeniable that she loved Jaden and that life, no matter how long it would go on or in how many more guises, would never be the same again because he was gone.

Then Clara came back into the room and smiled as she noticed the female Doctor from the future was looking much better.

Clara sat down on the other side of the couch and decided to break the silence.

"So," she said, "are you feeling better?"

And the Doctor smiled and her green eyes lit up a little.

"I expect it will get easier, when I make sense of everything."

And Clara looked at the man who she knew as the Doctor and he exchanged a cautious glance with her and she got it; they'd been talking about the baby...

"If this is a private conversation I don't mind leaving the room."

But the red haired woman smiled on hearing that and reached over and briefly touched her hand - and for one strange second Clara almost felt as if the man beside her had touched her instead...

"No, you should stay," the Doctor said, "I've just been having a conversation with this very sensible male version of me from long ago and he's right – I need to face up to this. I'm pregnant and it's Leo Isaac's baby. I wish it could have been Jaden's child but since when did the universe give out free favours?"

"What was Leo like?" Clara asked.

And the Doctor briefly closed her eyes, recalling the moment she had arrived back in London and the Tardis had picked up a signal that seemed to be coming from a large private yacht on the river where a party was in full swing. She had sneaked aboard looking for the man who owned the yacht, and found him leaning over the side of the boat and puking into the river. Then he had wiped his mouth on the sleeve of his jacket and turned around, looked at her and smiled.

"Sorry about that love, "he had said as he drunkenly lurched forward, "it's my birthday...and I seem to be a little bit pissed..."

But as he bumped into her his expression had changed and he had glared at her, grabbing hold of her as he pinned her up against the stairway.

"_Where is he?"_ he had demanded as anger burned in his dark eyes, _"where is my son?"_

As the memory burned bright, the Doctor opened her eyes once more and looked at her former self and his companion.

"He was nothing like I expected – I mean, I got so fond of him, I don't know why it happened. But he's gone now."

And then she fell silent and lifted the coffee cup, pausing to watch the steam rise from it as she thought again about her other lost love.

"_He's gone,"_ she said again quietly, and sipped more of the coffee.

* * *

Up the other end of the river, where the other identical Police Box was standing, Ralph looked around the bright room and then down at the Tardis controls.

_As he looked at those controls he wondered about something_.

He had seen the Doctor put in coordinates before. He knew how to do it. He also knew the Mars coordinates were still in the Tardis memory on the flight plan records...

Then he cautiously reached out and hit a couple of buttons, watching as the flight plan came up on a small screen built into the console.

Ralph was gripped by icy fear as he wondered how he would feel when the Tardis vanished and flew off through space and time.

_He would be flying through space and time..._

_Alone._

That thought made him go cold and dizzy and he knew all he had to do was throw a switch and he would be on his way. It seemed like a good idea, to go back to Mars and warn Jaden about the explosion... but as he looked at the numbers beneath the outward flight plan he wondered about the timing... then, with a shaking hand, he reached out and carefully altered the date of arrival by one hour ahead of the time they had left Mars, then changed the return date making sure the Tardis would appear to have been missing no more than a few minutes in the present.

He drew in a tight breath and wondered if he ought to leave the controls alone and just let things rest as they stood – Leo was dead and so was Jaden...he had never met Jaden Floyd but he knew the Doctor had wept over his death and that was enough; while she and Leo had been under the Thames taking on the Cybermen, he had been hiding away in the winding corridors of the Tardis – now it was time to make amends for that...

His hand hovered nervously above the lever that would activate the controls.

"Just do it!" he said aloud, "Pull the damned switch!"

And his shaking hand slowly lowered.

Then a light blinked on and off and as he read the computerised message beside it, his eyes lit up joyfully.

"_Autopilot?"_ he said in a relieved voice, _"Yes please, Tardis!"_

And he hit the autopilot control.

The Tardis began to whine and groan as the familiar sound of the box vanishing into time and space filled the air.

Ralph jumped up and down excitedly.

"I _can_ fly this thing!" he exclaimed.

Then the Tardis lurched sideways and as gravity slipped away he clutched at the console, yelling for help as the room began to spin and the view of space beyond turned to a blur of darkness and stars all spinning around violently.

He wondered if he was going to throw up, and then he wondered if he could hold onto the console for much longer.

Then he wondered what he had done wrong, because the Doctor had told him when the Tardis was in flight, they would never feel it spinning, not on the inside...

But it _was_ spinning. _And no one could hear him screaming for help, because he was all alone and out in the vastness of space as the Tardis hurtled onward, spinning wildly out of control..._

* * *

The Doctor's thoughts kept shifting from Jaden to Leo.

"I'm glad we met," she said to her eleventh incarnation, "but I really need to get going now. It's doing me no good to stay around here. I'm going back to the Tardis and I'm leaving in the morning."

He nodded, and was about to open the door for her , but then an idea sprang to mind.

"Before you go, would you let me take a sample from that rash on your arm? I might be able to isolate the cause of it and –"

"I already told you, I know who the father is and he was _definitely _human!"

She looked at him with a stony expression, ready to open up that same disagreement again, but then she saw the look in his eyes and her mood softened.

"I'm just trying to help," he added.

She gave a sigh and pulled up her sleeve.

"Just because you're _me_, I'll let you do it – but don't expect your Tardis computer to analyse that any time soon – I've already told you, what you're looking for isn't there, you're _wrong_! I know both those men were human. You're chasing shadows."

And he looked at her and she looked back at him and past and future regenerations exchanged a smile.

"We always did," he reminded her.

"Because sometimes those shadows turn out to be worth chasing," she agreed, "although I _do_ think this time, you're wrong..."

* * *

The Tardis came to a sharp stop, slamming Ralph to the ground.

As he turned on his back the high ceiling seemed to be spinning. Every bone in his body ached and as the spinning slowed to a halt he closed his eyes, breathing hard as he reached up and ran a shaking hand through hair damp with sweat.

"_Why was that so scary?"_ he said in a tearful voice, wishing the Tardis could answer him to tell him what he had done wrong.

Then he dragged himself up and stood unsteadily, reached in his pocket to check the Tardis key was still there, and then walked to the door.

When he got there he paused, taking another, deeper breath as he tried to cancel all his fears, something that was hard to do when he thought about how far away from home he was right now...

"Just open the door..." he whispered, "there are _no_ Martians...they're _human_..."

And he opened the door and stepped outside into the unknown, closing the door behind him as his heart hammered in his chest.

As he looked around and his breathing became easier and his heart rate slowed, he took in his surroundings: it looked like he was in someone's home - in a rather comfortable living room, to be exact. The walls were pale and the carpet was soft and as he looked through to the next room he saw a roof top garden where a fountain spurted clear water. He looked around and noticed one wall was made of glass and though it he saw a large control room. On the other side of the living room, there was a small corridor and he quickly went down it, hoping to find a way out – but all he found was a bedroom, a bathroom and a flight of stairs leading to another room where the door was locked.

Ralph paused at the locked door and gave a heavy sigh.

"I'll have to go out through the front door!" he said aloud, hoping he wouldn't be seen and caught and arrested for sneaking around like this- all he wanted to do was deliver the message and get back in the Tardis and go home, no matter how scary the journey back would be, home was the only place he wanted to go...

He took in another deep breath and ran for the door.

Ralph tugged and pulled at the lock and then stopped, looked again and realised he needed to turn a dial on the inside of the door.

He heard the lock slide back and then he dashed out, stopping in a long, empty corridor as he heard the unmistakeable sound of the door closing behind him heavily...

He turned back and stared at the locked door. He was now locked out - and the Tardis was locked inside.

"_I'm trapped!"_ he said in a frightened voice.

Then he thought about his only chance to get off this planet – the reason why he came here in the first place – he needed to find Professor Jaden Floyd, and he needed to do it fast...

* * *

A thousand years back in the past, on Earth in 2013, as a lonely female doctor began along walk back along the bank of the River Thames, the eleventh Doctor shut the door of his Tardis and turned back to his companion.

"I wish we could have done more for her," Clara said sadly.

"_Perhaps we can."_

The Doctor went over to the Tardis computer and began to put in some details.

"I thought we couldn't do any more?"

He smiled on hearing Clara's confused tone.

"I haven't given up yet! I still think that DNA might show up something interesting. She's not leaving until morning, there's plenty of time..."

He watched as the computer searched records and as he waited Clara watched the screen begin to shift as it ran through many screens becoming a blur.

"What are you searching for?"

As the file showed up on the screen, the Doctor's eyes stayed fixed on it.

"Anything useful," he replied, "I'm starting with these two men she's been involved with...let me see, Leo Isaac..."

As he started to read he sounded surprised.

"Armed bank robbery, prison...gun smuggling? How did I – no, I mean how did _she_ get involved with someone like him?"

The Doctor looked at the photograph of the rough looking man with the dark eyes and a hard stare.

"He's not even good looking, she's very attractive, she could have done _much _better than him!"

Clara smiled on hearing that.

"You think she's attractive? So you fancy her, do you?"

He smiled too on hearing the teasing tone of her voice.

"_Must mean I fancy myself..."_

He scanned through the record quickly.

"There's nothing here at all, nothing I'm looking for...both his parents are human, he's human just like she said...she's got it wrong, he can't be the father, it's not possible. She wouldn't have a reaction like that to a human conception."

He added more data and waited for the computer to complete the search once again.

"I know it," he said to Clara,"I _know_ I'm right! That rash is a sign that her body is getting rid of inferior DNA, writing over it... the father's DNA can't stand up to her – I mean, our - DNA, so the human-type side is reprogramming the alien side as the baby develops. By the time she's three months pregnant that rash will be gone and so will every visible trace of noticeable alien DNA in that child. Which narrows down the field a little..."

Clara looked at him hopefully.

"You mean it could only be one of just a few species?"

"Actually it could be one of more than a hundred species in existence but none of them are particularly appealing..."

As he looked at Clara his eyes widened.

"All I can say is, it must have been true love...every species I can think of that would cause a reaction like that would be - to my species and yours too - quite bizarre and _definitely _repulsive to look at!"

Then the file came up and he stated to read again.

"Professor Jaden Floyd... born on Earth, studied for ten years to get the job with the Mars program...he's been almost fifteen years maintaining the shields on Mars... mother was human...and there's no mention of his father. That's interesting. I wonder who he was?"

He glanced at Clara and she saw curiosity burning in his eyes.

"But this proves nothing, there could be lots of reason why he's not listed – maybe his mother had a one night stand or perhaps she broke up with his father before he was born..."

Clara stopped talking.

The Doctor was staring intently at the picture of Jaden Floyd.

"Why are you staring at him?" she asked.

"What do _you_ see when you look at him?"

Clara looked carefully at the picture of Jaden Floyd. As she met the Doctor's gaze she smiled playfully.

"Honestly? I see a human male...quite an attractive one, too..."

And the Doctor leaned forward and grabbed her, giving her an unexpected kiss.

As he let go of her she saw amusement dancing in his eyes.

"I wasn't expecting a kiss for saying he's handsome!"

The Doctor was still smiling.

"That's not what I meant but it's a good point – an attractive human male, yes – but what _else_ do you notice? Look at the expression in his eyes...it's rather familiar!"

Clara studied Jaden's eyes.

"I'm not sure what I'm looking for."

"Both human and Time Lord DNA can write over some species, cancelling out the alien appearance and physical attributes of an unborn child – but it _can't_ take out traits!"

The Doctor laughed.

Clara stared at him.

"What's so funny?" she wondered.

He was still laughing.

"I _know_ I'm right, I know it! And I'm wondering what possessed his mother to fall in love with..." he shook his head, "oh well, it _must_ have been true love, it certainly couldn't have been anything else!"

Clara's eyes were still wide.

"What are you talking about, Doctor? I don't know who you mean, I don't see how Jaden Floyd could have any alien in him at all - and she told you the father is Leo Isaac...she _must _be right, how could she get that wrong?"

The Doctor was still smiling. Clara was finding this conversation frustrating now.

"Let me in on the joke, what's so funny?"

"Its just the thought that me - I mean, _she_ is having a child with him and _his_ father is –"

Suddenly his smile disappeared.

"Oh I feel slightly bad about something...first thing in the morning, after this is sorted out, I'm going back –"

"Back where?"

"Back in time. I never realised one day he would be so significant in my life... I mean, in _her_ life – he's my child's grandfather. I owe him an apology; I really, really do..."

The Doctor had paced around the console and now he was looking at the screen again.

"But who are you talking about?"

As she asked the question, he leaned closer to the screen as his gaze fixed on the rest of the information.

"What's this?" he wondered in a hushed voice, "This can't be right...how could something so significant change like that? "

Clara leaned over his shoulder and read the information on the file.

Her eyes grew wider.

"Professor Jaden Floyd was hailed as a hero for successfully using the Mars atmospheric shield to destroy an attempted invasion by the Cybermen? He survived? But I thought he died? And he married a Doctor Jane Smith and they have a son named..."

She turned from the screen and stared at the Doctor.

"_She called him Leo?"_

He frowned.

"I'm not sure why the timeline's changed...or why she's called her son Leo."

"But she said he was the father!" Clara was still feeling frustrated because the Doctor seemed determined to stick to his own theory - and she just couldn't see how he could be right.

"I think you're wrong," she told him, "you're too involved - she's a future version of you – and you're too close to this to see the facts! She said Leo is the father!"

The Doctor looked back at the screen.

"No, I _am_ right. Just trust me; I know what I'm talking about..."

And he read on and then placed his finger on the screen pointing to the information in the file.

"As well as saving the planet in 2113, he also did something _else_ that year- it says here he was one of the group who founded the movement that got the Mars Law abolished...why would he do that?"

Clara shook her head.

"What's the Mars Law?"

He quickly explained.

"It was a law that stated Mars belonged to earth, therefore anyone who wanted to live and work there permanently had to of human origin. Aliens were allowed to visit and Mars made a lot of money from tourism – but in 2113 that law was abolished, leaving aliens from outside to have the freedom to choose if they wanted to live and work there. Now _why_ would he care so much about that issue unless he had a personal involvement? I think he was defending his alien heritage!"

Clara still felt like she had more questions than answers.

"But he's human, he looks human..._what_ alien heritage?"

And as the DNA sample completed analysis, the Doctor read the results silently as the lights from the Tardis glowed dimly around them. Then he turned to Clara with a triumphant look on his face.

"I _am_ right! The proof's here. That baby is half alien and her DNA is overwriting it, when the child's born it will have human appearance, just like Jaden Floyd."

Clara shook her head as she looked at him.

"Alien?"

The Doctor nodded.

"Definitely alien – certainly alien to a Time Lord, whose DNA is virtually identical in most ways to human - Jaden is half-human on his mothers side..."

The Doctor's theory was beginning to make sense.

"And what about his father?" Clara asked.

The doctor laughed and shook his head.

"_Believe it or not, Professor Floyd, the father of my future regeneration's child, is half-Sontaran!"_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

The walk along the riverside seemed much longer now the Doctor was alone.

She stopped walking and paused to look out over the dark river shaded by night.

If she looked up at the sky she thought of Leo's eyes - Leo Isaac had eyes like the night. But if she looked further, to the stars and beyond, her thoughts remained with Jaden. She couldn't bear to think of what his last moments must have been like as he desperately tried to power the shields too high, knowing he would stop the invasion but die in the process...

Tears were threatening to blur her vision again but she took in a breath of sharp night air and thought instead about the man who had died through his own stupidity:

Leo had never listened, and in the end, it had cost him his life...

She stayed beside the flowing waters as she recalled him:

_He hadn't listened to her on the night of the party. He had been far too drunk to listen to anyone... _

She had managed to persuade him that she knew nothing of his son and he had stepped back with a confused look in his eyes. Then after a brief conversation, he had given her his card and told her to call on him the next day - but not too early.

Then Leo had stumbled back downstairs and joined the party once more.

The Doctor had gone back to the Tardis – and on finding out about his past and connections via the Tardis computer, had decided not to go to his riverside apartment. Instead she had called him and asked him to meet her by the river because it was a matter of urgency. He had sounded hungover and just about ready to slam the phone down – until she mentioned a suspicious cargo that she would have no choice but to inform the police about if he didn't agree to meet with her...

Then his tone had darkened, and sounded almost menacing as she had asked him to come alone and he had reluctantly agreed...

* * *

_They had met late in the morning just as the sun was about to hit the noon high spot in the sky._

Leo had looked a little worse for wear as stood beside her and they looked out across the river at his yacht.

"There is _nothing_ on board my boat!" he had told her darkly, "I don't care what you think you know about me – that's my private yacht. The old bill could turn it over – they wouldn't find anything!"

And then as he fixed his gaze on her, she looked into his eyes and wondered exactly what this man had to hide – quite a lot, by the sound of things...

"I'm not the police," she told him, "but I do know there's some kind of signal I'm picking up that's either coming from your boat or an area very close by – either beneath the boat or on the shore. And if you don't let me intervene, this could turn serious. It's powerful equipment, it could prove dangerous and if you won't help I _am_ going to the police and quite possibly the army, too."

They looked at each other.

Leo frowned.

"So who do you work for? And don't lie to me, I've seen enough to know when someone's trying to make a mug out of me. Believe me, those who do live to regret it. _I'm a powerful man_."

She stepped closer and although his stare had darkened, she felt no fear from this man who had made his money by being on the wrong side of the law for most of his life.

"Come with me, I'll show you something. Then I'll explain everything."

Confusion clouded his eyes as he looked back at her.

"What is this? I don't know you, I don't know what's happening here and I'm _not_ sure if I should do this. I think I should make a call and ask a couple of my lads to come along for the ride. I have some _very_ nasty people working for me – they watch my back, too."

The Doctor turned away.

"I'm not interested in the guns and all the other smuggling you're involved in, nor do I care about your large scale fraud either. Just follow me – I'm only taking you a little further along the bank. I want to show you something."

"Why should I trust you?" he demanded.

The wind blew off the river and the Doctor ran her fingers through ruffled red hair as she smiled.

"Is a big bloke like you scared of a little woman like me?"

Annoyance flashed in his eyes.

"Well?" the Doctor asked him.

He gave a sigh.

"This had better be good."

Then as she began to walk, he walked alongside her.

"You still haven't told me your name."

"I'm the Doctor."

"Doctor what?"

She smiled again.

"Just the Doctor."

They stopped walking and as Leo saw the old Police Box he stared at her.

"You _are_ involved with the old bill!"

The Doctor drew out a key from the inside of her jacket and unlocked the door.

"After you."

He looked at her with an expression that said the man who had previously been so menacing and boastful about his power was now rather bewildered. He stepped inside and the Doctor followed him, closing the Tardis door behind her.

"_This is my ship."_

Leos eyes were wide as he slowly turned around, taking in the seemingly impossible vastness of the room.

"This is some sort of a trick...it can't be real..."

He drew in a shocked _breath and turned back to her. Suddenly the hard man who though the was so invincible looked almost afraid._

"What is this place?"

"I told you – my ship."

She stepped closer, taking hold of his hand and slipping it inside her blouse.

He was too taken back by the suddenness of her movement and too surprised at what she had done to react as she slid his hand inside and pressed it below her left breast.

"That's my heart."

Then she slid his hand to the right side of her chest.

As he felt another beat his eyes widened even more and his jaw dropped.

The Doctor kept her gaze fixed on his.

"And that is my _other_ heart. I'm not human. And this ship is my Tardis. I can travel through time and space. Would you like to see more proof?"

He was still speechless as she drew his hand out of her blouse and let go of it.

"Believe me now?" she wondered.

He nodded slowly.

The Doctor smiled.

"That's good. Now perhaps you can tell me where that signal is coming from, because it's got a safety device fitted to obscure it – I can't pinpoint the exact location."

His eyes were still wide as he took in a breath and nodded again.

"I've got a warehouse around the corner - you don't need to know what I keep in there but it backs on to the riverbank. Maybe someone hid something in there."

"_Or behind it."_

He was utterly confused by that remark.

"No Doctor, there's just the river bank behind it and the Thames, that's all!"

"And _anything_ can tunnel through," she reminded him, "I need to take a look at this warehouse."

He checked his pockets and as his jacket shifted she noticed Leo Isaac carried a gun, but said nothing about it. If they came up against alien hostility she was pretty sure his gun would be about as much use as a water pistol - that signal the Tardis had picked up had carried all the hallmarks of a design used by Cybermen...

Leo looked at her and for the first time since she had met him, she saw a flicker of panic in his eyes.

"I haven't got the keys...they must be at home. Not here, at my other house. I've got a place out in the sticks, its miles from here. I can't get them today. But I can do it tomorrow."

He caught the doubtful look in her eyes.

"I will get them, I promise you!" he said sincerely, "I have some stuff to do today – you don't understand what kind of people I'm mixed up with – they'd soon get rid of me if I messed up on a deal!"

And then he frowned, feeling a strange urge to open up to this woman with two hearts.

"Look, I won't be around for much longer. I'm getting away at the end of this month, I'm going abroad to start a new life. No more crime, no more looking over my shoulder, no more worries..."

The Doctor stared at him as she recalled the information she had read on the Tardis computer:

_Obviously he wouldn't get to carry out his plan, because the people he worked for would get wind of it, shoot him in the head and bury him in a shallow grave in Epping Forest before the month was over..._

"I see," she said quietly wondering why she felt so concerned about what lie in store for Leo, a man she barely knew.

She thought about the possibilities that could lie in wait and quickly agreed with him about the warehouse.

"I could force the lock but it would be better to go in as quietly and carefully as I can - there might be sentries guarding it and it won't take much to wake them up."

Now Leo did look scared.

"Sentries?"

"Robots," the Doctor told him, "Cybermen, to be precise."

He reached inside his jacket and breathed out a relieved sigh as his hand comfortingly closed about his loaded gun.

"I'm armed, they can't touch us!"

The Doctor rolled her eyes.

"An ordinary gun won't stop a Cyberman!"

He scoffed at her remark as he patted the firearm that was now hidden beneath his jacket.

"I wouldn't worry too much, Doctor - I can handle it..."

And he smirked, pausing to hold open the door for the Doctor as she stepped out of the Tardis and then he followed.

As she locked the door, Leo spoke up again:

"Same time tomorrow... Come over to my place, I should be back before lunchtime?"

She nodded.

"And you don't have to go into the warehouse with me, Leo – I can handle this alone."

He laughed on hearing that.

"I couldn't let a little girl like you walk into danger! Don't be daft, I don't care where you're from or how many hearts you have - you're still a woman and you're not going in there alone. You _need _a bloke like me to protect you."

The doctor couldn't help but smile as she saw such good intention shining in his eyes.

"Actually I don't," she replied, "I really don't need you at all. But I'll see you tomorrow."

_And then she turned away and walked off, leaving him behind to wonder about the Tardis and the woman with two hearts..._

* * *

The Doctor was still walking and thinking of Leo's death as stars punctured the night sky and the dark water of the Thames flowed inky in the darkness.

Then she reached the place where her Tardis had stood and stared at the empty space.

"Ralph?" she said aloud, and then the Doctor drew a remote control device from her pocket and aimed it towards the stars, hitting a button that glowed as the device bleeped twice.

It came as a great relief to hear the whoosh of the Tardis as it abruptly returned.

As its form became solid and the light on top stopped flashing, the Doctor unlocked the door and stepped inside.

"What did you do?" she called out.

Her own voice echoed back at her.

She looked around the empty console room.

"Ralph?" she called out again, "What happened?"

There was still no reply save for the hum that came from the centre of the glowing Tardis controls. The silence was starting to worry her now. Even if he had managed to get lost somewhere in the winding corridors, she would have heard his pitiful cries for help...

"Where _are_ you?" she wondered aloud.

* * *

Back in the other Tardis, the Eleventh Doctor was still amused at his discovery.

"Sontaran!" he said again, "Jaden is half Sontaran! It might not show on the surface but one look in his eyes and I knew – "

He turned back to the Tardis computer and searched for more details.

Clara watched him as he rubbed is hands together with glee and then laughed again as he found the earth address of Jaden's mother Cecilia. He pointed at the screen again, tracing his finger along the words as he read them aloud:

"Cecilia Floyd... She was a former glamour model? Floyd is his mother's maiden name! She kept it because her husband had no second name. They were married off world and stayed off world for several years – there's no record of the husband because that would be kept within intergalactic registry, there wouldn't be a record on Earth – or Mars!"

Then he looked at Clara as amusement danced in his eyes.

"Jaden's not an only child – he's got a younger sister too! Her name is Chardonnay and she's twenty five!" Then his eyes widened. "_And_ he's got another sister aged thirty called Rochelle!"

The Doctor was still laughing.

"Someone's been a busy potato-headed dwarf!" he exclaimed, hitting buttons and grabbing at levers as the Tardis light began to glow.

Clara stared at him.

"What are you doing? We need to be here in the morning to tell the other Doctor –"

"And we will be."

The Tardis light began to shine brighter as it prepared for flight.

"First," the Doctor said, "we need to make sure we have all the information we can get our hands on – so we're paying a visit on Jaden's family, here on Earth – we'll arrive a couple of days before the explosion on Mars - that's enough time to find out everything we need to know, then we can come back here and tell me – I mean _her_ – everything!"

And then the Tardis was gone, spinning off towards a future earth, where the Doctor was looking forward to meeting a certain Sontaran who had indeed been a _very_ busy potato-headed dwarf...

As the Tardis landed, Clara exchanged a glance with the Doctor.

"Are we going to warn them about what happens on Mars?"

The Doctor shook his head.

"No need," he replied as he opened the door of the Tardis, "something's changed somewhere, because Jaden doesn't die. So there's no need to worry them. This won't take long..."

And as he looked across the leafy suburb and towards a large detached house that looked to have been built back in the twentieth century he took Clara's hand.

"Come on," he said with a hint of amusement in his voice, "I want to meet the future in-laws – this should be fun!"

* * *

Clara found herself smiling as they crossed the street and walked up the driveway of the house.

The Doctor rang the bell and waited.

He looked down at the tiled porch and stifled a giggle, then composed himself as he waited for an answer.

Moments later the door was opened by a woman with long dark hair. It was impossible to guess at her age because she still had the looks that had had helped her along the way in her modelling career so long ago - and her makeup was heavy, too.

She smiled and the Doctor couldn't help but notice the expression in her eyes as she looked up at him in her flowery summer dress – she didn't seemed to come across as the brightest woman in the universe and although her two daughters, according to the Tardis computer, had seemed to look very pretty and outwardly human, they too had shared that same vacant expression.

He thought about the eldest son, Jaden Floyd, head scientist who took care of the shields on Mars and smiled again – obviously Jaden had been the exception, being born with a _great_ deal of intelligence...

"Can I help you?" Cecilia Floyd asked sweetly.

The Doctor smiled.

"I'm an old friend of Jaden's – and I believe I know your husband too. I'm the Doctor and this is Clara, we've come a long way to see Jaden."

"He's on Mars!" Jaden's mother exclaimed, "As you know he works with the shields and all that stuff - he's not coming back to visit until the end of summer. But come in any way, its always nice to meet one of his friends."

And she opened the door wider and the Doctor and Clara went inside.

As Cecilia closed the door behind them, Clara cast a glance around the smart, comfortable home and smiled at the Doctor - this place seemed so homely, so ordinary...

Cecilia led them through to a comfortable front room and they sat on a pale, floral print sofa while Cecilia sat on a matching one on the other side of the coffee table. The TV was on and she grabbed the remote control and switched it off, killing the sights and sounds of a mind-numbing daytime talk show.

Then she looked at the Doctor and his companion and smiled.

"You said you know my husband?"

"From a long time ago," the Doctor replied, "I was hoping I might see him today."

"Of course you can!" Cecilia said warmly, "He's out in the garden mowing the lawn for me. I'll just get him for you..."

And she got up and walked over to the open patio doors, where beyond the sound of a lawn mower sounded from the far end of the long garden.

"Strax!" she called out, "Someone's come to see you, love..."

Clara and the Doctor exchanged a glance.

The Doctor hid his amusement quickly.

"I have to remember he's my future father-in-law." He said quietly, "Its time to put the past aside...no more insults!"

And Strax waddled into the room, wearing a dark suit minus the jacket. His sleeves were rolled up and as the former Sontaran warrior- turned – nurse recognised the doctor he stared at him.

"Long time no see, Strax."

"_Doctor?"_

Then Strax noticed the young human woman sitting beside him...it couldn't be Clara Oswald, because he had seen her die, yet she looked just like her...

"It's good to see you again," the Doctor told him, "and its a great surprise to find you have a _human_ family! And you're still alive after all these years too!"

"I fought and died in the great battle of Demon's Run," he said proudly, "but after my resurrection it seemed I no longer aged."

And then Strax smiled proudly.

"I have a family!" he exclaimed.

The Doctor smiled too, thinking Strax had clearly over come his problems adapting to Earth...he seemed to have lost his former outbursts of aggression and urges to insult others.

Then Strax glared and anger fired up in his eyes.

_"Thanks to vile human DNA my children have no outward appearance left of their noble Sontaran heritage!"_

He glared at his wife.

"Because of _your _pathetic human genes!" he raged.

And then love shone from his eyes as he smiled sweetly.

"I do love my family so very, very much!" he said warmly, "They bring me great joy!"

The Doctor briefly looked down at the carpet, hiding his smile – Strax clearly had _not_ changed one bit since their last meeting so long ago...

"So why are you here, Doctor?" he asked.

"I was in the neighbourhood."

Strax nodded, seeming to accept that explanation.

Then there came the sound of a key turning and the front door opened and closed. They heard the sound of tiny heels clicking on the hallway floor and as she opened the door she smiled at her parents.

"Mum, Dad!" said the slender blonde in the short white dress and high-heeled silver shoes, "I've had a great time today – but shopping made me tired. I left my bags by the stairs. Can you take them up later, Dad?"

Strax nodded again.

"This is my eldest daughter Chardonnay," Strax told the Doctor, "again, sadly human in appearance! A _great _disappointment!"

And as his daughter smiled at him, clearly used to his accidental insults, he smiled too and added warmly:

"She takes great joy in shopping for clothes – shoes, mainly. "

"Her sister's just the same," Cecilia said fondly, "the girls take after me, we love to shop..."

Then she frowned as she looked down at her wrist.

"I can't find my bracelet."

Chardonnay sat down on the sofa beside her.

"Have you checked your other wrist?"

Her mother glanced down.

"No, no there either... Ooh, I like those shoes, did you get them today?"

Chardonnay stretched out her legs.

"Yes I did! I like them, they're full of straps, and they're...what's the word?"

"Strappy?" her mother suggested.

Chardonnay smiled.

"I _think_ that's the word I was looking for..."

Clara briefly looked away as she hid a smile. It was clear Cecilia and her daughter were not too bright... which made Jaden's intelligence a great exception in _this_ family...

"How did you and Strax meet?" the Doctor asked.

Cecilia smiled at the memory.

"It was at a party. He couldn't take his eyes off me. I got used to his little...you know..._outbursts._..found it quite sweet, really..."

Then she suddenly thought of something.

"Would you like some tea?"

The Doctor smiled and Clara nodded.

Cecilia turned to her husband.

"Put the kettle on, Strax..."

The Sontaran scowled and then smiled sweetly and turned and made his way into the kitchen.

As the phone rang Chardonnay reached over to the table and picked it up.

"Hi Rochelle!" she said brightly, and began a conversation with her sister.

Cecilia turned back to her guests and spoke fondly of the past.

"I fell in love with Strax at first sight!" she exclaimed, "I mean, he's nothing like anything I'd ever seen before. And he's ever so kind."

Then she smiled.

"I'll always remember the day he proposed to me – he looked at me with all this hatred in his eyes and called me human scum - then he got down on one knee and love shone from his eyes as he asked me to be his wife!"

The doctor smiled too.

"Your son's done well for himself, working with the Mars shields."

Her eyes sparkled at the mention of her eldest son.

"We're ever so proud of Jaden!" she exclaimed, "He's so clever, I don't know where he gets it from! And he's very proud of his Sontaran heritage too – he's one of the people who set up the campaign to get Mars opened up for other species. I expect when that goes through he'll have to leave for a while, there's a few people who are against that idea, so he said he might have to take extended leave for a few years..."

Then she leaned forward and lowered her voice.

"Jaden's such an inspiration. His pro-species idea gave _me_ an idea, I'm thinking of setting up a charity for people who have problems like my husband."

The Doctor blinked.

"Like Strax?" he wondered.

She dropped her voice to a whisper.

"You know what I mean... _aliens with Tourette's_..."

The Doctor sat back and turned his head, hiding a smile.

At the same time Chardonnay was still on the phone talking to her sister.

"No Rochelle," she was saying, "Mum still can't find her bracelet... oh yes, she tried that already...it _wasn't_ on her other wrist..."

Clara hid a smile too.

Then Strax entered the room with the tea and set it down on the table.

His eyes shone with excitement as he smiled.

"I am very proud of my children!" he said again, "And I breastfed them all, they each had six months of Sontaran milk!"

Cecilia was still smiling.

"It's true, I didn't have to do anything. He's so helpful."

And then Strax added hopefully:

"I still lactate! I hope to be able to feed my _grandchildren_ one day!"

The Doctor thought of his future female pregnant self and coughed and spluttered into his tea and quickly set the cup back on its saucer on the table.

"I was surprised when I found out Jaden was your son," he remarked.

Strax glared at him.

"Human DNA destroyed his noble Sontaran appearance! I _pity _my offspring for their _pathetic_ human looks!"

And then he smiled.

"Of course, they are all very, very beautiful," he added warmly, "my son Jaden Strax Floyd is a source of great pride to me, and so are my daughters."

Clara exchanged a glance with the Doctor and carried on drinking her tea.

Then the Doctor sat and listened as he learned more about Strax and his wife and children, feeling mildly amused to think his future self would have these people as her in-laws...

* * *

When it was time to leave, the Doctor and Clara went with Strax to the front door.

Clara walked off down the driveway and lingered there because the Doctor had already told her, he had an apology to make – and after deciding to make this visit, it seemed there was no need to go back to the past, because right now, there was indeed no time like the present...

The Doctor spoke up at once.

"Before I go I wanted to say something to you."

Strax looked him.

Then as loud music blasted out from the garden of a house across the street, the Sontaran's eyes blazed with baleful rage.

_"Not again!"_ he ranted, _"They need to be obliterated!" _

And then he blinked and as a smile appeared on his face his tone softened, "But like Cecilia said, I should just knock on the door and ask them to please keep the noise down."

"That sounds like the best option," the Doctor replied.

Then he looked into the eyes of his old friend and thought about all the times he had lost patience with him, poked fun at him and insulted him – he knew he had been a little harsh, especially as fate had turned a hand that meant this psychotic potato-headed dwarf would one day be father in law to his future self...

"It was all said in good humour," he said quietly, "the names I once called you – I'm actually quite fond of you, Strax."

The Sontaran briefly nodded.

"Goodbye, Doctor," he said, "I shall now close the door and return to my puny human family."

"Who you love very much," the Doctor reminded him.

Strax smiled and love and pride glowed in his eyes.

"I cherish them!" he said proudly.

And then something caught his eye and he leaned down and grasped it, smiling triumphantly at the Doctor:

"My wife's bracelet is found!" he declared joyfully as he held up a small gold bangle.

The Doctor laughed and leaned over, briefly kissing the top of the Sontaran's huge potato head.

"You'll see me again," the Doctor promised him, "in time..."

And then as Strax closed the door, the Doctor walked away from the house and caught up with Clara.

As they headed back to the Tardis the Doctor was still smiling.

"That certainly was an interesting visit," Clara said.

Then the Doctor's smile faded as he thought of his future self who still didn't know the truth.

"We need to get straight back to 2013," he told her, "because it's not over yet..."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The Doctor had searched the Tardis and found no sign of Ralph.

Then she had waited outside the Tardis, hoping that perhaps he had wandered off and maybe – although the possibility was unlikely – the Tardis auto controls had activated in his absence... She couldn't see him, with his fear of space travel, being foolish enough to try to fly her ship– but the longer she waited, the more she became convinced something had happened, and it was the last thing she needed – another person close to her lost, gone, all because they had associated with her...

The Doctor leaned against the outside of the closed Tardis door and looked upwards:

_The night seemed hollow._

Even the stars that shone in the darkened beyond did nothing to lift the Doctor's spirits as she recalled Leo Isaac's arms around her.

_She had never planned for that to happen..._

She had called on him as they had arranged and he had let her into his top floor apartment that held a view over the river. He had sat down and talked with her after showing her a set of keys and promising her that she would be safe, because he was coming with her.

She had smiled on hearing that and told him there was no need to go along because she knew what she was doing.

While that statement had been partly true, spoken because of lifetimes upon lifetimes of experience of hostile aliens, she had her doubts – mainly because the unexpected was always the best thing to expect in these situations and because humans rarely handled this kind of problem well – she felt as if taking Leo along would be adding a burden instead of keeping the task simple.

_But he had insisted._

He had insisted on many things, starting with sliding his arm around her and smothering her with an unexpected kiss.

The Doctor had pulled back sharply and as they stood inches apart at the wide window while the Thames flowed beyond, she had looked into his dark eyes and felt nothing but confusion.

"I like you!" he had said quickly, "More than that – what you showed me yesterday, it was amazing! _And I don't mean putting my hand inside your blouse...that was nice too but what I mean is_ –"

He stopped talking briefly as a flicker of annoyance registered in his eyes.

"What? What did I say that was so funny, Doctor? I was talking about your ship – I'm thinking that you and me can do a lot with a ship like that – we could go anywhere, do anything! And I need a new start. Does that sound like a plan to you?"

The doctor had turned from the view of the river and shook her head.

"I've travelled for so long I'm weary. I'm weary of space and time even though it's my second home. Can you understand that?"

He frowned.

"_No."_

The Doctor gave a sigh.

"My life is complicated, I'm an alien, you're human, I've had many human companions and it's never ended very well for me – that's why I'm still alone. You have no idea what my reality is; can't you stop for a moment and think about that?"

Leo did think about it, for the briefest second and then is eyes had lit up excitedly.

"Being you must be incredible! You must love the power you control with that flying box!"

The Doctor's eyes reflected nothing but centuries of sorrow and memories of battles.

"No, it's not like that," she said quietly, "I can sum it all up in one word: Lonely. That's what is, nothing more, nothing less. I'm the last of my kind and I will always be alone. Perhaps not all the time but eventually, in the end, I'll be alone."

A silence passed between them.

Then Leo stepped forward and slid his arm around her again.

"Then perhaps it's time you stopped running."

His words had never made her think before, but as she stared at him her voice dropped to a whisper.

"What do you mean?"

"All this travelling, never staying around too long - I think you're scared of settling down. If you stop running and appreciate what you have, maybe you'll find out there's nothing to run from, what do you think, Doctor?"

His arms were still around her and she stiffened in his embrace.

"You don't understand me," she told him truthfully, "please, let me go –"

He kissed her again and this time she returned his attentions.

_Making love with Leo had been brief and clumsy and he had been impatient and over keen to impress her._

But all she had thought of was Jaden a thousand years into the future and after he had kissed her a final time and the Doctor had left his bed, she had dressed quickly, unsure if her feelings meant she was confused or if she regretted every moment with Leo Isaac...

Life had be so much easier as a man.

Everything this time, in female form, seemed like the first time around.

She was sure her male mind was trying to tell her brush it off and get the signal deactivated and with the Cybermen problem gone, she would be free to leave and go back to Mars.

She guessed that saying goodbye to Leo wouldn't be difficult even if her heart felt a twinge of pain; she knew she loved Jaden...

_But events had not turned out that way..._

* * *

She had materialised the Tardis outside the warehouse.

Ralph had taken one look at Leo and heard the word _Cybermen_ and the Doctor had understood as he hastily left the room and went off down the long corridor; he was afraid. He was also home on earth and he hadn't left the Tardis yet - but she couldn't bring herself to say goodbye, not right now – it just didn't seem like the right time for a farewell...

As they stepped out of the Tardis, Leo had smiled and briefly shifted his open jacket, flashing his gun.

"I'm your back up," he had said proudly, and thinking about the firepower of the average Cybermen's weapon, her heart had sank.

She drew a thin, sleek, black device from her pocket and twisted the end of it. As the top began to glow red, Leo stared at it.

"What's that?"

"It's my sonic screwdriver," she told him, "I can do all the damage I need to do to the Cybermen's signalling system with this – I _don't_ need you attracting attention to us by firing a gun –that won't stop them anyway, so keep close to me."

He smiled as she said that and his eyes lit up hopefully.

"I like the sound of that, of course I will..."

The Doctor met his gaze and her green eyes had turned to ice.

"This is serious, Leo! If you walk in there unprepared for the level of danger we face, you're as good as dead!"

His smile faded and his dark gaze shifted towards the locked door of the warehouse.

"We can get in around the side... and watch what you're doing in there, _don't _touch anything!"

She took a silver device from her pocket and as the sun's rays caught on its metallic structure, she twisted a dial and watched as a signal began to pulse slowly.

"What's that?" Leo asked her, "Another sonic screwdriver?"

They were approaching the door at the side of the warehouse.

"No, it's a device that can link to the signal I'm tracing. Right now it's telling me the source is nearby but no more than that – they've got good shields, I have to hand them that."

They reached the door and he drew out his keys.

"I'll go first," he offered.

As he turned his back the Doctor gave a sigh as she wished Leo would stop trying to play the hero – _in_ _her experience of many lifetimes over, heroes often wound up dead..._

He opened the door and stepped inside.

The Doctor followed and as the lights snapped on she saw piles of crates neatly stacked and could only wonder at the contents – she was sure there was nothing legitimate in here...

Then as they walked through the maze of stacked crates, the Doctor looked down at the silver ball that pulsed in her hand.

The signal began to rise, the lights blinking rapidly.

She touched Leo's arm to signal him to stop, and she dropped her voice to a whisper.

"It's coming from over there..."

As she indicated to the brick wall, he had laughed.

"Doctor, there's nothing there! Nothing but earth and mud and eventually, the river!"

"And I told you anything could tunnel through."

She turned off the tracking device and turned back.

"We'll have to take the Tardis through. I've got the signal locked on now – it's coming from beneath the river bed."

On hearing no reply, the Doctor turned back.

"Why don't we just smash our way through the wall?" he said loudly, tapping on the old brickwork.

The Doctor's eyes widened.

"Don't do that!"

Leo was still beside the wall.

"Why not?"

"Because they can _hear_ you!"

His eyes darkened.

"I'm scared of no one, I don't care who they are!" he said loudly.

_And then it had happened._

As the first Cyberman crashed through the wall, Leo turned in horror as he pulled out his gun and then stared in horror at the expressionless metal face of the creature.

"What the hell are they?"

_"Cybermen,"_ the Doctor said, _"and you can't stop them!"_

The gun slipped from Leo's grip and he dived down to grab it just as a second robot broke through the wall.

"What do we do?" he yelled as he staggered backwards, his eyes were still fixed on the sight of the robots with guns – large guns, the kind of gun he had never seen before – he knew in a heartbeat she had been right; his own weapon, by comparison, was little more than a water pistol...

"Doctor!" he yelled, "What do we do?"

The Doctor looked into his frightened eyes, and then Leo slammed himself against a wall of crates and rolled just as they tumbled, the boxes falling heavily, striking one Cyberman as the other prepared to fire its weapon.

"What do we do?" Leo said again in a frightened voice.

"_RUN!"_ the Doctor called to him, and turned and ran for the exit, ducking a shot from the weapon's blast that blew plaster and masonry in shattered pieces that rained down behind them. Leo was breathless as he caught up with the Doctor at the door of the Tardis. She shoved it open and dashed inside and he followed, half stumbling as the doors closed.

* * *

The Doctor worked the controls quickly, and as the machine whooshed and whined and took flight, Leo leaned against the console and tried to get his breath back as he looked angrily at the Doctor.

"That was your clever alien plan, was it? _Run?_"

The Tardis landed and the console hummed quietly as the ship rested once more. The Doctor looked across the console at Leo and remained unruffled by his remark.

"No," she told him, "my plan, now I've located the transmitter, is this: I've located the device. We're now under the river, in the tunnel where the Cybermen left the device. I'm going to go out there and tamper with the device and hopefully alter the signal to do a lot of damage to their plans."

As she walked over to the door, Leo stared at her.

"You're going out there, where there could be more of those _things_?"

The Doctor glanced back at him.

"Yes, of course I am! This trouble won't go away on its own, Leo."

He watched as she took the orb from her pocket and checked it again.

"This signals going crazy! Something's about to happen - I can't waste any more time -"

"_I'm coming with you!"_

As he hurried over to join her, the Doctor hesitated on reaching the Tardis door.

"Are you sure about this? I already have one frightened human hiding deep inside the Tardis and I wouldn't think any less of you if you became the second one. _This is dangerous_. You don't _have_ to come with me."

Leo looked at her nervously.

"I've never run from anything in my life."

The Doctor had looked hard at him and while the tracking device bleeped rapidly she knew the clock was ticking and time was running out yet the look in Leo's eyes made her pause for thought.

"_But you are,"_ she reminded him darkly, _"you're planning to break ties with your past and leave, what's that if it's not running?"_

Then she wondered why she had bothered to stick the knife in when he was already destined to die and that thought made her heart ache for a reason she couldn't explain.

"You don't have to come with me," she reminded him, and then went outside, and Leo followed...

* * *

_The place had been dark._

As they made their way towards a dimly lit control area where a large device had been embedded in the deep earth, the Doctor had cast a cautious glance around and dropped her voice:

"They think this place is almost undetectable. Two sentries were posted on the surface by the entrance to the tunnel; I'm guessing there will be at least one more patrolling this area. They know humans and their technology won't find this device but other species might – so don't assume we're alone..."

Then she hurried over to the control panel and sat the tracking device on top of it and as the signal continued to flash, began to check the controls.

Leo shivered in the cold gloom, nervously glancing over his shoulder as he wondered if another of those silver creatures might step out of the darkness.

"_Hurry up!"_

The Doctor ignored his words as she stared at the machine and took in the program details.

"This is a signalling device, it's set to a large ship that's just outside of Earth's radar range... and there's another..." she paused, working out the coordinates, "the second is set for one thousand years from now – it's the Mars colony! They're planning to invade Earth and its human colony population a thousand years apart, simultaneously using space - time technology...no, I have to stop this! It's happening now, it's about to happen right now..."

Leo stared at her.

"What? Are you saying those things are planning a war?"

The doctor's head was lowered over the console as her red hair trailed over her shoulders and her hands worked fast, tapping in a new signal.

"No," she said without looking up, "not an invasion. That suggests a battle. There wouldn't be a battle - these creatures would just walk in and crush humanity."

_And as she had worked to melt wires with the sonic scredriver and then switch the signal to a lethal frequency that would carry to every Cyberman linked to receive the pulse, Leo began to choke._

The Doctor looked up sharply and saw Leo gasping for air as the cold hand of a Cyberman closed about his throat; the creature had him and its iron grip was cutting off his air supply, threatening to crush his windpipe and he was helpless, powerless in the robot's grip.

"_Doctor!"_ he gasped, then as he fought for air his arm was pinned his arm behind his back and Leo weakly began to give up the fight.

The Doctor looked down at the console as she worked.

_"Two seconds... almost done..."_

And all she heard in reply was a strangled gasp from Leo.

_"Nearly there!"_ she said, hitting a button and watching for the timer to begin countdown to a different set of instructions.

Then she had seen the Cyberman raise a weapon and she dived beneath the console just as a blast hit the wall. Earth showered her as she rolled and then kept to the shadows as she raced around towards the metal man who was choking the life out of Leo Isaac.

As the Cyberman turned the Doctor lunged at the weapon, Leo struggled and as the Cyberman let go and turned to the doctor, Leo grabbed for its gun, turning the weapon to the creature's side and pressing every control on the alien gun.

The blast that flashed out blew a wound in the creature's side.

As the Cyberman gave a metallic cry of pain and staggered back, Leo scrambled to his feet.

A whine began to emit from the console.

"What's that?" he said nervouslyas he rubbed his bruised throat and looked at the signalling system as if he expected it to explode.

"I changed the frequency of the signal and diverted it to ht the central nervous system of every Cyberman above Earth's atmosphere – they'll get their invasion signal – right where it hurts the most, in their personal central life support systems!"

Leo's eyes lit up.

"Well done Doctor, sounds like you kicked 'em in the balls!"

Then he looked around sharply, seeing no trace of the wounded Cyberman.

"Where did that thing go?"

The doctor shook her head.

"Staggered off to die probably. It doesn't matter; let's get back to the Tardis..."

* * *

_It had only been when the doors had closed and the Tardis was in flight that the Doctor had realised what she had done..._

Leo was laughing as he looked around the dim console room.

"So where's this friend of yours, the one who likes to hide? Does he know we beat the Cybermen yet?"

"_I _beat them- and that's not an exact statement..."

The Doctor was busy looking at the Tardis computer as she searched through time records and silently hoped the worst had not happened.

"I stopped an invasion – it doesn't mean there won't be more of them, they don't give up easily..."

Then as she read the information on the computer, she had drawn in a sharp breath as she blinked away tears.

"I stopped the invasion on Earth. I had no time to stop and think to divert a second signal to the fleet above the Mars Colony one thousand years from now. They stopped the invasion with their shields... but there was an explosion...a fatal one..."

Leo had failed to notice the tears in her eyes.

"So what if a Mars colony got destroyed a thousand years from now? We won, you stopped the invasion – it's over!"

The Doctor briefly closed her eyes as she thought of Jaden, then the Tardis landed and she called to Ralph.

As she heard is reply from deep in the Tardis, she took in a deep breath as she looked away from Leo, seeing a look in his eyes that said the death on Mars that had broken both her hearts would never come close to affecting him, he only considered his own reality – and it was one she had no intention of being a part of.

"It's time to say goodbye," she called back to Ralph, then avoided Leo's gaze because he didn't know she had meant this was goodbye to _both_ of them...

But that goodbye had not worked out the way she had expected it to, when they had stepped out of the Tardis on the bank of the River Thames and the wounded Cyberman had staggered from deep inside the ship.

_The rest was history..._

* * *

The Doctor had been lost in her thoughts of Leo and his needless death and as she turned from the night sky and went back inside her Tardis; it seemed there was nothing left here to wait around for and Ralph was still missing...

Despite the hum of the Tardis that was a constant companion and existed so close it felt bound to her hearts, the Doctor still felt very much alone – and now she was back in the one place where she truly felt she belonged, her thoughts began to slide together in some kind of order that wasn't dominated by the pain of her loss.

As she placed her hands on the console she frowned, feeling as if something was oddly out of place – displaced, or misplaced? Something was wrong and she could feel it in the air, as if the Tardis had been rattled and shaken and...

_Her gaze switched to the flight plan._

She looked at the poorly calculated plan and noticed the lack of essentials like gravity and..._That was it!_ The Tardis certainly _had _been shaken violently; theold girl had been taken on the equivalent of a joyride by someone who knew very little about the controls...

The Doctor began to reset the controls.

"_Why did you do it?"_ she wondered aloud as she put right the settings and then set the destination date to the final hour before the explosion on Mars.

* * *

Ralph had only been on Mars, one thousand years into the future, for a brief time but he still wasn't comfortable talking to any one – even though he had spoken to more than a dozen people who had all pointed him towards the upper stairway that to the front office in the maintenance department – he knew what was behind it, because that was where the Tardis had landed – even though every person he had met seemed human, and now he was finally in Jaden's office and Jaden also looked totally human, he still wasn't comfortable. He was still scared of aliens, still shaking and as Jaden looked at him with a confused expression, he wondered how to explain about the explosion.

"You said you know the Doctor," Jaden began, "I understand that part – but where _is_ she?"

Ralph's eyes widened as he thought about the time and distance that separated him from the safety of being back on his own planet.

"She's on Earth, she's back in my time! Things went wrong, she stopped the signal and the invasion but she couldn't stop the _other _attack – "

Jaden saw a different kind of terror in his eyes now, and it was nothing to do with how scared this man was of being alone on a strange planet far from him.

"What other attack?"

"The one here on Mars. You stopped it by powering the shields around Mars too high. You blew up the Cyberfleet ship. _You died_."

Jaden stared at him.

"I die?"

Ralph paused, wondering if there could be anything that he could say to make this news any easier to take.

"You're going to be a hero!" he added hopefully.

Jaden ignored his remark and asked a question:

"If I'm going to die, why are you here?"

And Ralph couldn't answer that truthfully; instead he floundered for a moment, recalling a time the Doctor had been half inside a panel beneath the console of the Tardis with her sonic screwdriver in her hand. He had taken a deep breath and spoken words that took a lot of courage, saying, _"I want you to know I love you, I'm in love with you Doctor..."_

And she had crawled out from the open panel, bumping her head and rubbing it as she looked up at him.

"What did you say? I can't hear a thing in there and I'm trying to fix some wiring...could you give ten minutes, please? I'm busy!"

_He had never repeated those words._

As Ralph thought about how he had made this journey and done it all for a woman who didn't even know he was in love with her, he hid the truth:

"Because she loves you," he said to him.

Then an alert sounded and Jaden unlocked the door and went through to the control room.

Ralph followed and looked through the glass wall at the room beyond and gave a frightened gasp as he realised the Tardis was gone.

"It's missing!" he said in frightened voice, "I left it over there – it was in the corner..._the Tardis has gone_!"

Jaden ignored him as he watched the radar.

"Something's wrong, there's something up there... it's coming closer and at this rate its going to smash through our shields...I've never seen anything like it..."

Ralph blinked away frightened tears as he saw the mass outlined on the monitor.

"It's the Cyberfleet ship..."

Jaden looked at him, and suddenly the fear melted from his eyes.

"My first thought was to rip out the wiring under the controls and hot wire it - that would send enough power through the shields to surge and destroy the vessel. But that would kill me too - the control centre would explode... there's another way to do this..."

He looked around the room and as his gaze fell on a robotic droid.

"I can still take the wiring out – I can use the droid to hold it together by remote control, it's designed to be used to handle dangerous components."

Ralph breathed out a relieved sigh as he started to smile.

"There won't be an explosion!"

Jaden was down on his knees unscrewing a metallic panel beneath the controls.

"No," He said as he worked, "This place will still go up - but if we can run fast, we might just make it...we'll have a small window of time from the moment I activate the droid's controls."

Ralph's smile faded.

"How long do we have?"

Jaden glanced back at him, and as he spoke he was resigned to fight and win or die trying:

"_Ten seconds."_

* * *

As the Eleventh Doctor's Tardis span through time and space, he was deep in thought.

"Why are you so worried?" Clara asked him,wodering whathad brought about such a swift change in his mood.

He turned from the controls and looked at her. She couldn't truly read the expression in his eyes but knew the pain he felt was deep.

"It's nothing to do with living life times over and over, it's not about experience or how many forms I've taken..."

He took in a sharp breath and tears ran down his face.

Clara stared at him.

"What's happened to you?"

The Doctor leaned against the console as he fought back more tears.

"The Tardis connects me – us, me _and_ all my lifetimes as one... we are one being in several dimensions, different times and places but still one – and I just felt exactly what she's feeling and I know the truth, I understand it, I saw it, I felt it...I know why, I know why things turn out the way they did..."

He wiped his eyes and then threw levers and the Tardis started to change course.

"She's emotional, confused, she's grieving – and she's regenerated several times, gone through a lot more than I have yet to live – I'm getting old, Clara, I'm not as sharp as I used to be, I mean, _she's_ not as sharp as me... we need to make a detour... I have to get involved, I can't turn away from this!"

Clara was still staring at him.

"I thought we were going back to earth, you said she deserves to know the truth!"

The Doctor was still emotional as he looked into her eyes

"She _will_ know – I know already... I loved...I mean, _she_ loved them both. _That's why we're going to Mars_."


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

As her former self in another lifetime took his Tardis into the future, the Doctor stood alone with her hand posed over the lever that would activate the time-space controls.

She thought of the journey she was about to make and her hearts ached as she considered the possibility that going back would lead her bump into Jaden still alive and unaware that he was about to meet his own death.

Then as she looked at the light that shone from the heart of the Tardis, the Doctor felt sure it knew how she was feeling; the whole place glowed brightly yet the hum that came from the machine that shared her existence seem to hum quietly, patiently, as if understanding her dilemma.

"What do you think, old girl?" she whispered, "Should I do it? What other choice do I have, Ralph's stuck there. Do I leave him in the future just because I'm too afraid of my own two hearts breaking again? "

And the patient hum of the power that ran through the Tardis was her only reply.

She took in a deep breath and drew her hand back from the controls.

"I _can_ do this, "she said quietly, _"I just need more time...what use is a time machine if I can't have that?"_

* * *

Ralph watched nervously, standing back as Jaden got up and used the remote control to move the droid into position.

The wires were twisted and a fraction from touching.

"You'll need to get further back than that," Jaden told him as he prepared to hit the button, "We need to get clear of the building - this place is going up!"

Ralph blinked back tears as he thought of home and wondered if he would ever see it again.

"But there's no time!"

Jaden glanced at the mass on the radar.

"There's no other way."

And he hit the button.

As the droid slammed the wires together, a ripple of power shivered through the cables, sending sparks along the wiring.

Jaden dropped the remote control.

"_Let's go!"_

As they bolted for the door, there was a whoosh and the familiar sound of the Tardis landing.

The door of the blue box opened and the Doctor looked out.

"_Ralph, Jaden – inside!"_

Jaden dashed for the Tardis, as Ralph stood there as the seconds counted down.

"No, we have to get out of here, we'll all be killed!"

The Doctor reached out from the door way and grabbed him by the collar and dragged him inside, slamming the door behind them.

He looked over at Clara.

"Now!"

She pulled a lever.

Outside there was a boom that seemed to echo and cover everything, yet it was muffled and the Tardis was not shaken by it.

Ralph stared wide eyes at Clara as the Doctor shifted the Tardis into flight mode once more.

"How come we're not dead?"

The Doctor was still looking at the console. He glanced up and smiled at Jaden, feeling love for the man within his twin hearts, as he understood that he was feeling a ripple of something yet to be, with his future self...yes, he _would_ love this man, as _her_, in another life, he would love him dearly...

"I think Jaden knows the answer to that question," he replied as he continued to watch the lights flash on the Tardis control panel.

"You do?" Ralph wondered, looking confused.

The Tardis was about to land in 2013, safe in a Cyberman –free world where no threat of invasion now lurked.

Jaden laughed.

"This is a ship. _And ships designed for space flight have shields!_"

Ralph started to smile.

"I never would have thought of that!" Ralph s aid honestly.

"Thank goodness one of us did!" the Doctor remarked, then the Tardis landed and he walked over to the door.

"Before we go outside," he said to Jaden, "I just want to say something to you – I think you are going to make me very, very happy in the future."

Jaden looked at him blankly.

"I don't understand..."

The Doctor smiled.

"She's a Time Lord - _I'm_ one of her previous lives."

And as he saw the look of surprise on Jaden's face, he laughed.

"I wish you all the best." The Doctor told him as he opened the door, "even though you did make me – I mean _her,_ itch..."

They had stepped out into the early morning sunshine and Jaden turned sharply to the Doctor.

"What do you mean, I made her itch?"

The Doctor indicated to his arm.

"Her DNA and your DNA have had a bit of a quarrel, haven't they? You need to tell her about your father."

Jaden stared at him.

"What do you know about my family?"

"I know your mother married a Sontaran and your middle name is Strax. That's enough! You need to explain all this to her."

"I will," he promised, and then as he looked across the flowing waters of the Thames, he wondered where she was.

"Do you know where is?"

The Doctor pointed to the identical box beside his own Tardis.

"She's in there."

And then the door opened.

"Come over here." He said discreetly to Clara, and they walked away, standing by the banks of the river, watching the water as they both turned their backs on a very private moment.

The Doctor kept his eyes on the water as he blinked back tears. He was doing it again, seeing and knowing all as he linked to his future self...

Clara reached out and took hold of his hand.

He turned his head and their eyes mat and she gave his hand a squeeze.

"What did you mean, she loves them both?"

The Doctor took in a heavy breath and briefly shook his head.

"I'll tell you when they've gone."

And suddenly they were not alone - Ralph had joined them.

"I want to say goodbye to her," he said, "But I think she's busy..."

The Eleventh Doctor and Clara looked back to see the future Doctor standing outside her Tardis. She stared at the man who walked over to her as tears filled her eyes, and then they looked back towards the river once more.

The Doctor smiled as he looked back to Ralph

"Don't bother saying goodbye – "And for once he was feeling glad his connection to the universe had let him know everything that had ever been and ever would be, "They'll come to visit at Christmas time – with the baby..._and _the in-laws. Don't scream when you meet Jaden's father, he's a Sontaran."

"A what?"

The Doctor laughed softly.

"You'll find out soon enough!" he promised him.

* * *

The Doctor had stepped out of the Tardis to get some fresh air, to take in the sight of the river and think about London and remember old London Town, as she had known it any life times before. It was her way of clearing her head before she hade a difficult journey.

Yet on leaving the Tardis she had stepped out to see her former self, his companion and Ralph over by the bank, looking out across the river.

Then a familiar voice had spoken her name and she had looked up and seen him standing before her.

Tears filled her eyes as she looked over at her Eleventh Incarnation and mouthed a silent _Thank you_; he briefly smiled and turned away, not wanting to interrupt this moment.

"How did he save your life?" she asked.

"Ralph told me about the invasion," Jaden explained, "he also told me I died in an explosion –so I guessed my first idea to hot wire the control was a bad way to go about it. So I used a droid and when the Tardis showed up we went inside and its shields protected us from the blast."

She knew she was crying and laughing at the same time as she put her arms around him.

He held her tightly and then kissed her and then he stepped back and indicated to the rash that was creeping down her arm and now spreading across the back of her hand.

"That's my fault," he told her, I know about the baby. I need to explain –"

"No, I need to tell _you_ something."

The Eleventh Doctor walked over and as the conversation unfolded, chose now as the best time to cut in and take her aside for a brief moment.

"As well as two hearts, in a female form our kind also have two separately functioning sets of ovaries _and _separate wombs," he informed her.

And the female Doctor blinked, trying to recall facts she knew little about.

Her Eleventh incarnation smiled and leaned closer, whispering in her ear:

"You got your dates wrong, Doctor- its Jaden's child. I can prove it - he's only half human_. Ask him what his middle name is_."

She stared at her former self.

"What?"

He gave her a knowing smile.

"Just ask, Doctor. Now I really can't stay, me and Clara have places to go and things to do – but perhaps we'll meet again some day."

And he smiled warmly, and then turned and walked back towards the Tardis and Clara followed.

* * *

Jaden spoke up at once, wondering why the Doctor had taken her to one side like that.

"Like I just said, I need to explain about that rash you've got."

"No, there's no need," she replied, "just answer my question..."

Jaden looked into her eyes.

"If it's about my involvement with the movement to ban the Mars law, yes it _is_ true there might be some unrest and we might have to leave for a while – I'm assuming you're coming with me, you do want to do that, don't you? _Please_ say yes, we could travel in your Tardis... we could spend some time on Earth with my family too – I won't be able to go back to Mars until all this fuss over the change in the law has settled down. And I need to tell you something about my family –"

The Doctor held her hand up.

"Just answer my question."

He saw the serious look in her eyes and nodded.

"Anything, ask me anything at all – I'll give you the answer if I know it."

She drew in a deep breath.

"_What's your middle name?"_

Jaden smiled as pride shone in his eyes.

"I may look entirely human, but that's because my mother's DNA wrote over my father's. But I still consider myself half Sontaran. I'm _very_ proud of my heritage, Doctor. Our baby's grandfather was a warrior. Although he gave that up for a nursing career. My middle name is_ his_ name, my middle name is Strax."

Her eyes grew wider as she recalled a certain psychotic, potato-headed dwarf from many lifetimes ago...

"_Strax?"_ she exclaimed, and then she looked into the eyes of the man she loved, who looked nothing like a Sontaran, and started to laugh, because as she took a closer look at Jaden she was sure she caught a hint of a look of his father about the expression in his eyes – she had never noticed _that_ before...

The Doctor hugged Jaden and they kissed again then she took him by the hand.

"Lets go and meet your family right now!" she said warmly as they turned towards the Tardis, "I want to meet them, Jaden, I really do –"

Then they both turned in time to hear the Tardis belonging to the Eleventh Doctor start up as the light on top flashed, and then it faded in and out, and was gone.

She paused for a moment, thinking of how she had wanted to thank her former self. There was no sign of Ralph, either...

_"Oh well, "_she said quietly as she thought back over many lifetimes, _"I never did like saying goodbye..."_

And then she smiled as she looked into the eyes of the man she loved.

"Let's go," she announced as she led him by the hand into the Tardis, "I _so_ want to meet your parents!"

"They'll be so very happy about the baby!" Jaden exclaimed.

They paused just inside the doors of the Tardis.

"And I'm making it clear from the start," she told him, "Grandad Strax is _not_ feeding our child!"

"There's nothing wrong with Sontaran milk," Jaden said warmly, "I was raised on it!"

The Doctor smiled again.

"I didn't say there was – but the only one feeding this baby is going to be _me_!"

"Maybe," he replied, "but when you get to know him and you see how wonderful he is with his grandchild, I think you'll change your mind."

The Doctor looked into his eyes.

He leaned closer and kissed her again.

"Let's go," she said, I want to meet this Grandad Strax..."

And the door of the Tardis closed.

Moments later the blue Police Box faded in and out, and vanished off into time and space.

* * *

As The Eleventh Doctor stood back and watched lights blinking on the console as the Tardis flew off into space, his thoughts were still with his future incarnation.

Clara spoke up to break the silence.

"So Jaden survived because we went back and saved him, I get that much – but why do they call their son Leo?"

The Doctor looked at her and as his future self's memories fused with his own he fought back the urge to weep and smiled instead.

"She will tell Jaden about Leo, about how he tried to save her life when that Cyberman burst out of the Tardis. She's going to tell Jaden everything. And when he finds out about the way Leo died with hope in his heart that the baby was his, he's going to tell her to take their son back in time – just once, meet Leo and tell a lie..."

Clara frowned.

"But its not true, it's Jaden's baby."

"I know," the Doctor replied," but its also going to be Jaden's idea. He will tell her to put the final piece into he puzzle, to let Leo think that he's the father. Because Leo is destined to die and Jaden Floyd knows it – _he'll ask her to do it, to make sure that man dies with hope in his heart_..."

The Doctor drew in a deep breath.

"I can understand it, she loved them both - and Jaden is a very understanding, compassionate man..._very_ compassionate."

"_That makes a lot of sense..."_

The Doctor turned to see Ralph standing beside him.

"What are you doing here?"

Ralph smiled.

"Well Clara said I could come with you – I only need a ride as far as North London. I thought it would save me the bother of a train journey."

The Doctor gave a sigh and re set the controls.

"Fine, I'll have you home in five minutes, Ralph..."

And Ralph wandered over to the window and looked out at the swirling colours that were flashing past as the Tardis travelled onwards.

The Doctor caught the bemused look in Clara's eyes and stepped closer, lowering his voice.

"As soon as he's dropped off back home I want a word with you – no more inviting strangers along for the ride!"

And he smiled and so did she.

"I was only helping him out."

Then she thought again about his future self.

"Do you think she's going to be happy?"

The Doctor smiled.

For a moment there was a far-off look in his eyes, as if he was trying to shift ahead, into another time and place to a life he had not yet lived.

"Yes," he said honestly, "I think she will be very happy. But that's as much as I need to know, it's another life time - I'd rather live in the present, Clara."

And as the lights of the Tardis glowed their eyes met and as she looked at him she knew the Doctor was at peace with his own future as well as his past.

_"What matters is here and now,"_ the Doctor told her, _"My future can take care of itself."_

And the Tardis moved onwards, while the Doctor looked into the eyes of Clara Oswald, and all thoughts of the future slipped away as the time traveller knew he was happy to live in the present, with no worries about past or future to weigh him down; here and now was all that mattered as the Tardis flew on.

The End.


End file.
